433: Chapter 433 Killing Aura

Su Mingyuan stood at the edge of the terrace, staring at his Dantian for a few seconds.

When that mouthful of Spiritual Qi was introduced into his Dantian just now, the dull pain in his Meridians had already faded, but he remembered that feeling very clearly.

It was like swallowing water mixed with sand; it could be swallowed, but it scratched the throat.

Evil Qi.

This was not the first time he had seen this term.

It had been mentioned in Perfected Lord Yushou's Jade Slip, and there were sporadic records on the scrolls in the Cultivator of Spirit Taming's Storage Pouch.

At the time, he hadn't paid much attention to it because that content wasn't directly related to his Cultivation Technique; it was just common knowledge about the cultivation world.

Now, he regretted not reading it a couple more times.

"Tao Zhe."

Tao Zhe was at the Command Center, arranging the unloading order for the supplies, and walked over when he heard the call.

"Team Leader."

"How much do you remember about the records of Evil Qi in the Cultivator of Spirit Taming's Jade Slip?"

Tao Zhe was stunned for a moment, likely not expecting Su Mingyuan to ask this suddenly. He thought for a few seconds before speaking.

"I remember some of it. In the first batch of translated scrolls, there was a document regarding the classification of Spiritual Qi, which was a handwritten note by the Cultivator of Spirit Taming. Inside, it divided Spiritual Qi into three major categories—Clear Spiritual Qi, Turbid Spiritual Qi, and Evil Qi."

"Clear Spiritual Qi is the standard Spiritual Qi we usually use to Cultivate; the higher the quality, the better. Turbid Spiritual Qi is low-quality Spiritual Qi mixed with Impurities, which results in low Cultivation efficiency."

"However, Evil Qi is different."

Tao Zhe's tone changed slightly.

"The original text in the Cultivator of Spirit Taming's notes was written like this: 'Evil Qi is a variant of Spiritual Qi. In places of large-scale slaughter, where billions of living beings have perished, or in areas where evil Cultivation Techniques have left residues, Spiritual Qi becomes infected by Death Qi, resentment, and evil energy over a long period, gradually undergoing mutation. This is what is known as Evil Qi.'"

Su Mingyuan did not interrupt him.

"Evil Qi cannot be directly used for Cultivation," Tao Zhe continued. "If ordinary Cultivators absorb Spiritual Qi containing Evil Qi for a long time, the mildest consequence is a decrease in Cultivation speed and damage to the Meridians; the severe consequences involve the instability of the mind and drastic changes in temperament, and in serious cases—"

He paused for a moment.

"In serious cases, one will suffer from Qi Deviation."

Su Mingyuan's brows twitched.

"What are the symptoms of Qi Deviation?"

"There is a description in the Jade Slip," Tao Zhe recalled. "The general meaning is that after Evil Qi invades the Meridians and Divine Sense, the Cultivator will gradually lose their sanity and become violent and bloodthirsty, eventually reaching a point where they cannot distinguish friend from foe. The external manifestations are a darkening of the skin, reddening of the pupils, and behavior that becomes increasingly beast-like. The Cultivator of Spirit Taming used four words: 'Neither human nor ghost.'"

Su Mingyuan was silent for a while.

The Skeleton World was covered in bones, and the Danding Heavenly Palace had been destroyed; who knows how many living beings had died there. It made perfect sense that the Spiritual Qi in such a place would be mixed with Evil Qi.

"Are there any exceptions?" Su Mingyuan asked.

"Yes," Tao Zhe said. "The notes mentioned that there are some special Cultivation Techniques in the cultivation world that specifically use Evil Qi as a resource for Cultivation. For example, the Demonic Path's 'Blood Evil Technique,' 'Yin Evil Body Refining Art,' and 'Nine Nether Evil-Devouring Formula.' Practitioners of these Cultivation Techniques are not only unharmed by Evil Qi but actually benefit from it. The higher the concentration of Evil Qi, the faster their Cultivation speed."

"But just by hearing the names, you can tell that these are all Demonic Path Cultivation Techniques," Su Mingyuan said.

"Correct," Tao Zhe nodded. "And the Cultivator of Spirit Taming's attitude in the notes was very clear: nine out of ten people who practice these types of Cultivation Techniques eventually lose control. The Cultivation Technique itself carries the characteristic of eroding the mind, and when combined with the influence of Evil Qi, very few people can remain clear-headed."

Su Mingyuan processed this information in his mind.

The conclusion was simple:

The Spiritual Qi of the Skeleton World could not be directly used for Cultivation.

At least, not until a method to remove the Evil Qi was found.

"Make a note of this, and have the Guixu Project team research it later," he said. "For now, no one in the Skeleton World is allowed to actively Cultivate or absorb Spiritual Qi, and absolutely no one is to attempt Drawing Qi into the Body."

"I will notify everyone immediately."

Tao Zhe turned and walked back to the command console.

Su Mingyuan looked toward the north again; that direction was the location of the Danding Heavenly Palace's main vein.

He withdrew his gaze and walked toward the engineering vehicle fleet that was unloading cargo.

The reconstruction of the base had already begun.

The work for this first day was to level the ground.

Fifty Engineering Mechas had come through the portal. They were shorter than the Dawn-type, had no weapon Systems, and their arms had been replaced with hydraulic buckets and bulldozer blades.

They lined up and pushed forward from the center of the terrace, scraping away the remaining bone fragments, gravel, and uneven mounds of dirt on the ground. The material they scraped up was pushed to the edge of the terrace and dumped down the gentle slope.

The sound of bulldozing was monotonous; the metal blades scraped against the hard soil with a 'chi-chi-chi' sound, like it was scraping a piece of giant frozen meat.

Engineering soldiers followed behind the mechas, using handheld laser levelers to measure the flatness of the ground. Every hundred meters, they inserted a red stake, with a serial number written on it.

By the afternoon, an area of about two square kilometers at the center of the terrace had been leveled.

After the gray-white hard soil was compacted, the surface was very smooth, and there was almost no bumpiness when walking on it.

The second day, they began building defensive fortifications.

Su Mingyuan's defense plan was divided into three layers.

The outermost layer was a mecha patrol circle. With a radius of three kilometers, forty Dawn-type mechas were divided into four groups, patrolling twenty-four hours a day without interruption. Each group had ten mechas, rotating every six hours. The patrol route was circular, and the patrol areas of adjacent groups overlapped to ensure there were no blind spots.

The middle layer was an automated firepower network. One kilometer outside the base, the engineering soldiers buried one hundred and twenty automated sentry towers. Each tower was equipped with a small-caliber electromagnetic rapid-fire cannon and an infrared thermal detection System. When the Blood Moon rose, if any skeletons approached within one kilometer, the towers would automatically open fire.

The inner layer was the Spiritual Power warning Formation. This was Tao Zhe's idea. He simplified the Formation structure recorded from the ruins of the Danding Heavenly Palace and set up a circle of sensing nodes using skyfall steel stakes and Tier 4 crystal cores. This System did not detect physical movement, but rather fluctuations in Spiritual Power—if a target carrying Spiritual Power approached within five hundred meters of the base, the alarm would be triggered at least thirty seconds before the target arrived.

With the three layers of defense in place, the small outpost on the terrace already looked quite impressive.

—

On the evening of the third day, the main frame of the base had been completed.

The Command Center was a two-story steel-structured prefabricated house, installed with three large screens and a full set of communication equipment. Next door was the material warehouse, and next to that was the dormitory area, which could house three hundred people.

The generator set was in the southeast corner of the base, some distance away from the dormitory area, so the humming sound of its operation was reduced to a very faint background noise by the time it reached the dorms.

Su Mingyuan stood at the entrance of the Command Center, glanced at the engineering soldiers who were finishing work in the distance, and then turned and entered the building.

Zhang Dabiao was already waiting inside.

"You will be responsible for the management and construction of the Skeleton World base for now," Su Mingyuan said, getting straight to the point. "The construction of the base should continue according to the current plan; there is no need to accelerate it. If you lack manpower, ask the Main World for more. Regarding defense, all personnel will enter a combat-ready state during the Blood Moon, and all mechas must be withdrawn within the defensive line."

Zhang Dabiao understood: "Team Leader, are you going to explore the main vein?"

"It is time," Su Mingyuan said. "We went once before and only managed to reach the Cauldron Tomb and the Spirit Ruins Pool; we haven't touched the core area of the main vein yet. The Alchemy Legacy of the Danding Heavenly Palace, Pill Formulas, and more Advanced Spirit Medicine—these things are most likely inside the main vein."

Zhang Dabiao did not object, but asked: "How many people are you taking?"

"Six people."

"Six?" Zhang Dabiao's voice rose a little.

"Tao Zhe, Chen Rong, Lin Wan, Han Li, Zhao Cheng, Zhou Jian." Su Mingyuan counted them off. "Including myself, everyone has a cultivation level of Foundation Establishment Stage or higher. If we encounter danger, our reaction speed will be faster."

"What about me?" Zhang Dabiao said.

"You will stand by at the foot of the mountain. Take three hundred Dawn-type mechas and camp outside the entrance of the main vein. We will go in to explore, and you will provide firepower cover and retreat support from the outside. In case something comes out that we can't handle, at least our path of retreat cannot be blocked."

Zhang Dabiao opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but finally swallowed his words.

Obeying orders was a soldier's duty.