84: Blood Fiend Upgrade and "Beta Testers"

Black Wind Mountain, the main stronghold of the Blood Fiend Cult.

Bloody Fierce sat cross-legged in the center of the altar, which had just completed a blood sacrifice. His previously withered aura was recovering at an astonishing rate, becoming even more powerful than before! The bloody light swirling around him grew more solid, faintly revealing a trace of a sinister, heart-palpitating dark golden hue.

Below the altar, the remaining evil cultivators watched their cult leader with reverent, fanatical eyes.

"Congratulations to the Cult Leader on achieving Major Achievement in your divine arts!" A trusted Elder was the first to kneel and bow.

Bloody Fierce slowly opened his eyes, a flash of bloody light disappearing in his pupils. Feeling the surging power within his body, a ferocious smile curled at the corner of his mouth. Although this blood sacrifice had encountered some unexpected twists (thinking of that inexplicable Spiritual Qi stagnation and Divine Soul stinging pain, a flash of malice passed through his eyes), the result far exceeded expectations!

The reward from the "Heavenly Court" had descended! It wasn't the direct descent of a powerful expert, but rather a stream of extremely pure "Blood Fiend Origin" and a follow-up Cultivation Technique called the "Spirit-Devouring Blood-Transformation Art"!

With this reward, not only were his injuries completely healed, but his cultivation base had also directly stabilized at the Peak of Half-step Foundation Establishment. He was only a single opportunity away from truly stepping into the Foundation Establishment Stage! Moreover, he felt his control over the power of blood and slaughter had become more refined; he could even faintly sense the blood and Qi fluctuations of living beings around him.

"Qingxuan Sect... Wen Youyi..." Bloody Fierce muttered these two names in a low voice, his killing intent palpable. "Once this seat fully digests this reward, I will personally trample your Mutual Aid Society flat, extract your soul, and refine your spirit to vent the hatred in my heart!"

He had no idea that the enemy he constantly thought of had just used a false report to nearly swindle away the "reinforcements" he had so painstakingly requested.

"Pass down the order!" Bloody Fierce stood up, his voice carrying an unquestionable authority. "All Disciples are to Cultivate the newly bestowed 'Spirit-Devouring Blood-Transformation Art'! Step up the refinement of 'Blood Puppets'! This seat wants to see a stronger Blood Fiend army within a month!"

He seemed to already see the scene of himself leading an invincible Blood Fiend army, sweeping through the Qingxuan Sect's Outer Sect, and even breaking into the inner sect! As for why the "Heavenly Court" bestowed the reward, he didn't delve deeply. As long as it gave him power, allowed him revenge, and let him dominate, it was enough.

...

Lijian Valley. The "spirit stone wifi" project had achieved a Breakthrough.

Through the sleepless efforts of Senior Brother Zhang and the Disciples of the Research Hall, they had successfully drawn a complete node map of the valley's natural "mini spirit web" and identified several key points of energy congestion.

"It's just like unclogging a drain!" Senior Brother Zhang excitedly reported to Wen Youyi, holding a modified Magical Artifact shaped like a large bell. "We used this 'Spiritual Resonance Oscillator' to apply vibrations of a specific frequency to those congestion points, combined with the faint star core energy you provided as a 'catalyst.' We actually managed to clear the 'signal' for several nodes!"

Wen Youyi looked at the simple Formation laid out before him, composed of a few rough jade stones. In the center of the Formation, a faint but stable pale white halo slowly rotated, emitting a gentle and pure Spiritual Qi fluctuation independent of the external "spirit net."

Although the concentration of this Spiritual Qi was pitifully low, barely enough to nurture a few of the most common Spiritual Plants, its significance was immense!

"It worked! We actually cleared it!" Wen Youyi couldn't hide his excitement. "Although the 'network speed' is as slow as a snail's, this is our own net!"

He carefully extended a wisp of his Mental Energy into the pale white halo.

In that instant, he felt as if he had connected to an extremely tiny, yet independent and closed-off world. Here, he couldn't sense the ubiquitous, subtle sense of extraction from the external "spirit net." His Mental Energy flowed more smoothly and freely, although its range was limited to the few square meters covered by the Formation.

"Excellent!" Wen Youyi withdrew his Mental Energy, his face breaking into a wide smile. "This is the prototype of our future 'Inner Network'! As long as we keep expanding and strengthening this network, one day we'll be able to Cultivate here without worry, without fear of being 'taxed'!"

He immediately gave this newborn "Inner Network" a codename—"ark 1.0," signifying it as an ark preserving the spark of civilization amidst the flood (the harvest).

However, the joy didn't last long. The "rotten crows" monitoring Black Wind Mountain sent back new intelligence.

By interpreting the images and energy data recorded by the "rotten crows," the expressions of both Wen Youyi and Senior Brother Zhang turned grim.

"Bloody Fierce's strength has recovered, and he's even stronger!" Senior Brother Zhang pointed at the solid bloody light around Bloody Fierce in the water mirror technique. "He must have received benefits from 'The Ones Above.'"

"Not only that," Wen Youyi frowned deeply, "look at the energy fluctuations emitted by those ordinary evil cultivators during their Cultivation. They're more concentrated than before, carrying a stronger sense of devouring and corrosion... They probably received a more Advanced Cultivation Technique."

"This is troublesome," Wang Wu worried. "The enemy hasn't been weakened; they've been strengthened instead. Once they digest these benefits, they'll definitely come for revenge."

The atmosphere inside the cave became heavy once again. The joy brought by the birth of "ark 1.0" was diluted by the reality of the crisis.

"We must speed up!" Wen Youyi said gravely. "'ark 1.0' is just the beginning. We need faster 'network speeds,' a larger 'coverage area,' and... stronger self-protection methods!"

He looked at Senior Brother Zhang: "The Research Hall should continue optimizing the 'Spiritual Resonance Oscillator,' strive to clear more nodes, and strengthen the network signal. At the same time, initiate the 'Defense Tower' plan. Research how to use the energy of this 'mini spirit web' to power defensive Formations or offensive Magical Artifacts!"

"Defense Tower?" Senior Brother Zhang was puzzled.

"It means using network nodes as energy sources and signal stations to deploy automated defensive weapons!" Wen Youyi explained. "For example, automatically activating purification beams or interference waves when hostile blood fiend energy is detected approaching!"

Senior Brother Zhang's eyes lit up: "That's a viable idea! Although the network energy is weak now and can't power very strong attacks, it would be perfect for early warning and harassment!"

"Additionally," Wen Youyi's gaze swept over everyone, "we also need to improve our own strength. Within the range of 'ark 1.0,' everyone can try Cultivating, experience the feeling of not being 'taxed.' At the same time, the War Hall and Internal Affairs Hall should cooperate to screen a group of absolutely loyal, promising members to serve as 'Internal Test Players.' Gradually teach them the improved 'Hibernating Dragon Art,' and even... in the future, let them also access the 'Mind Net' and the 'ark'!"

He deeply understood that individual power was limited. Only by Awakening more people and gathering collective wisdom could they resist that vast harvesting System.

"Internal Test Players?" Zhao Iron Pillar scratched his head. "Boss, you've invented another new term?"

"It means testing the waters on a small scale first, to see the effects," Wen Youyi smiled. "We need to turn the Cooperative into a school, an incubator, to Cultivate more comrades who can understand what we're doing and are willing to fight for it!"

Just as Wen Youyi was ambitiously planning the future, the star core fragment in his bosom trembled faintly once more.

This time, it wasn't a warning, but a more concise, seemingly distant, intermittent thought:

"...Signal... weak... Co-frequency... Person... Is it... you... delayed... Scavenger?... Be careful... 'Observer'... has... noticed..."

The message cut off abruptly.

Wen Youyi shuddered, his pupils contracting sharply.

Co-frequency Person? Besides him, there were others who could receive star core signals? And the other party seemed to know about him delaying the "Scavenger"?

And... "Observer"?

He suddenly remembered Yun Zhi's original identity setting—a descendant of the "Observer" Family of the Creation Heavenly Court!

Could it be... his previous maneuvers hadn't just fooled the System, but also alerted real "people"?

A chill quietly crept up his spine.

(End of Chapter)