86: Silent Probing and "Entrapment"

The arrival of Envoy Mu Feng was like an invisible veil shrouding the entire Qingxuan Sect. The high-level Elders were polite and cautious, while the ordinary Disciples were mostly oblivious. Only a few keen individuals could sense an indescribable "feeling of being watched" permeating the Sect.

Within Lijian Valley, the atmosphere was even more tense, as if every rustle of the wind was a threat.

All non-essential activities were halted. The War Hall's drills were replaced with pure physical training and tactical deductions; even sparring only utilized Physical Body strength, for fear of causing Spiritual Qi fluctuations. The Research Hall's experiments were completely suspended; those buzzing "spiritual resonance chambers" and flickering runes were all shut down. Senior Brother Zhang led people to hide key equipment and data in deeper caves. The Disciples of the Agricultural and Labor Hall honestly cleared rubble and planted the most ordinary vegetation, looking no different from common Outer Sect handymen.

From the outside, the entire valley looked like a piece of ordinary wasteland that had just begun to be cleared and was awaiting reconstruction, appearing even more "harmless to humans and animals" than when it was occupied by Steel-toothed Rats.

Wen Youyi went into full "shut-in" mode, spending most of his time in his small cave under the guise of "secluding himself to consolidate his cultivation." In reality, he was focusing all his efforts on two things: first, how to further hide and strengthen "ark 1.0"; second, using the star core fragment to cautiously sense that ubiquitous "feeling of being watched," attempting to analyze its patterns and intentions.

He discovered that the "gaze" was not continuous but rather like a radar scan. Every so often, it would sweep across the entire Sect in an extremely subtle manner, lingering slightly over a few areas with abnormal energy reactions (such as Lijian Valley).

"It's like a routine inspection..." Wen Youyi thought to himself. "From what I can tell, he isn't specifically targeting us but is instead performing a wide-area scan to collect data."

This allowed him to breathe a small sigh of relief, but his vigilance did not decrease in the slightest. He knew that as long as ark 1.0 or his own abnormalities were flagged by the scan, this temporary peace would be shattered instantly.

Several days passed. Envoy Mu Feng only moved around the Guest Welcoming Hall on the main peak, occasionally sipping tea and discussing the Dao with Elder Xuan Shi and others, or standing alone at a viewpoint on the main peak "leaning against the railing to gaze into the distance," appearing calm and detached from worldly affairs.

However, this tranquility was broken on the fifth day.

On this day, Mu Feng proposed to Elder Xuan Shi that he wanted to take a casual stroll through the Outer Sect area to observe the Cultivation lives of the Low-level Disciples.

Elder Xuan Shi naturally did not refuse and personally accompanied him.

The two seemed to stroll casually along the stone paths of the Outer Sect. Wherever they went, Disciples bowed respectfully, curiously sizing up this uniquely poised envoy from the upper Sect.

Mu Feng always wore a gentle smile, occasionally stopping to ask about the harvest of the roadside spiritual fields or to comment on the feng shui of a certain building. His words conveyed erudition and affability, making people feel as if they were bathed in a spring breeze.

However, through news sent by "closed beta players" planted in the Outer Sect (carefully screened, reliable members who had just begun practicing the modified Hibernating Dragon Art and had not yet connected to the Mind Net), Wen Youyi keenly noticed that Mu Feng's route was not entirely random!

Though he seemed casual, he was actually slowly approaching the direction of Lijian Valley in an imperceptible manner!

"Here he comes!" Alarm bells rang in Wen Youyi's heart. "He's going to perform a close-range 'scan'!"

Sure enough, when Mu Feng and Elder Xuan Shi reached a hillside less than three li from the entrance of Lijian Valley, Mu Feng stopped. Looking at the slightly messy but vibrant scene at the valley entrance, he smiled and said, "Elder Xuan Shi, I heard your Sect entrusted this abandoned valley to an Outer Sect Disciple. Looking at it now, it seems quite impressive. This Disciple must be a diligent person."

Elder Xuan Shi stroked his beard and said, "The Envoy overpraises him. It's just the youngsters messing around; it's already not easy that they could clean it up."

Mu Feng smiled, his gaze seemingly brushing over Lijian Valley unintentionally. Deep within those calm eyes, a light resembling an imperceptible stream of data flashed once more.

In that very instant!

Inside Lijian Valley, all core members, including Wen Youyi, felt an invisible wave—far clearer and more penetrating than before—sweep over their bodies! It was as if it wanted to see through them from the inside out!

The star core fragment in Wen Youyi's bosom suddenly turned icy cold! He circulated the Hibernating Dragon Art with all his might to restrain his aura to the limit, while simultaneously mobilizing a trace of imperceptible Star Core Power to cover several key nodes of ark 1.0, attempting to interfere and disguise it.

He felt like he was taking a silent exam, with the examiner right nearby, and he had to hide all his "cheat sheets" perfectly.

The scanning wave lingered slightly on Wen Youyi and several key nodes, seemingly sensing a hint of abnormality, yet unable to capture it accurately.

On the hillside, Mu Feng raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"Interesting..." he thought to himself. "Target: Wen Youyi. Special aura-restraining Cultivation Technique, suspected to contain weak 'Inverse Source' characteristics (resistant to spirit net extraction). Unregistered spirit net nodes exist beneath Lijian Valley; energy reaction is weak but structure is stable, surface covered by a layer of unknown interference energy, unable to probe deeply. Risk assessment... upgraded from 'Pending' to 'Observation Level'."

The smile on his face remained unchanged as he said to Elder Xuan Shi, "It seems there are crouching tigers and hidden dragons among your Sect's Disciples. Although the Spiritual Qi here is weak, it has a unique vitality. Perhaps it truly can nurture something extraordinary."

Elder Xuan Shi didn't understand the underlying meaning and simply took it as a pleasantry, smiling in agreement.

Mu Feng did not approach further. As if it truly were just a casual remark, he turned and left with Elder Xuan Shi.

Only when that feeling of being peered at completely vanished did the people in Lijian Valley breathe a long sigh of relief, their backs drenched in cold sweat.

"Just now... it felt like I was stripped naked and inspected..." Zhao Iron Pillar said with lingering fear.

"He definitely found something abnormal!" Senior Brother Zhang's face turned pale. "I'm afraid our shielding methods can't hide from him!"

Wen Youyi slowly opened his eyes. His expression was solemn, but he didn't show much panic.

"He did indeed find an abnormality, but he didn't act immediately," Wen Youyi analyzed. "This means either his authority isn't enough to directly handle an 'abnormality' like us, or he's still observing and evaluating. Or perhaps... he's 'fishing'?"

"Fishing?"

"Yes," Wen Youyi nodded. "Deliberately startling the snake to see if we'll panic and reveal even greater flaws. Or, he wants to see if there's someone else behind us."

He stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and his gaze actually became firm.

"Since he has already noticed us, hiding blindly will only make us look guilty. Pass down the order: end the silence and resume normal activities!"

"Ah? Resume normal activities?" Everyone was shocked.

"Yes!" A hint of cunning flashed in Wen Youyi's eyes. "Not only will we resume normal activities, but we'll also be a bit more 'high-profile'! Didn't he think we have 'vitality'? Then we'll show that 'vitality' to him! Let the War Hall increase training intensity, the Research Hall continue with 'small inventions,' and the Agricultural and Labor Hall expand the area of land reclamation! We want him to see that we are just a vibrant, positive group of ordinary Disciples, just a little... special, that's all!"

"We'll use an open scheme to tell him that we are right here, working hard to develop, but we aren't 'violating the rules'! Let's see what he can do to us!"

Everyone looked at each other, stunned by Wen Youyi's bold idea.

This was practically like doing square dancing right under the nose of that "Observer"!

But on second thought, this seemed... to be the best way currently? Showing the enemy "normalcy" was better than showing weakness?

"Furthermore," Wen Youyi added, his lips curling into an arc, "have the External Liaison Hall quietly spread word that our Mutual Aid Society has recently been researching a 'new type of spirit gathering array' that can improve the Cultivation efficiency of Low-level Disciples, but unfortunately, it has hit a technical Bottleneck and progress is slow..."

Wang Wu's eyes lit up. "Youyi, you're...?"

"Exactly," Wen Youyi smiled like a fox. "Doesn't he like to observe? Then we'll give him something he 'might' be interested in observing. Let's see if this 'Observer' will turn a blind eye to our 'new type of spirit gathering array' (which is actually a weakened version of the ark 1.0 interface) or if he... won't be able to resist his curiosity?"

After a silent probe, Wen Youyi not only didn't retreat but instead actively laid out a small bait.

Next, it remained to be seen how Envoy Mu Feng would respond.

(End of Chapter)