89: Chapter 89 Microscopic Control

Facing Instructor Hera's blunt dismissal, Wang Pingan did not get angry; his face still wore that polite smile.

"Instructor, please don't misunderstand," he explained, neither humble nor pushy. "Since I dared to accept this task, I naturally have a certain degree of confidence."

"Confidence?" Instructor Hera acted as if she had heard some huge joke, pushing up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"Just based on you? A newly enrolled freshman? Although your Fourth Grade Mid-Stage cultivation is not bad."

Her perception was extremely sharp. Although Wang Pingan had tried his best to restrain himself, that Fourth Grade Mid-Stage realm was still as clearly visible as a firefly in the dark night before a high-level powerhouse like her.

However, in her view, Wang Pingan's aura was unstable, clearly forced up by some secret technique or medicinal pill; his foundation was shaky, and he was all show and no substance.

"Young man, I admit you have some talent. Being able to reach the Fourth Grade at this age is indeed not bad." Instructor Hera's tone softened slightly, but still carried a condescending scrutiny.

"But repairing this Star Map Fragment does not require brute force, but rather micro-level control of energy and an extremely vast spirit."

"Do you possess these two things?"

She pointed to the experiment table at a palm-sized, jet-black metal fragment covered in countless fine patterns, which was enclosed by a transparent energy shield.

"This 'Ancient Star Map Fragment No. 07' was excavated by us from the ruins of an ancient civilization. Inside it remains an extremely powerful spirit imprint belonging to a powerhouse of that civilization."

"This spirit imprint is like a complex program that has been encrypted countless times. Our task is to crack this program, sort out the chaotic energy flow inside it, and finally light it up."

"In the past three years, thirty-seven Students have tried, among whom there was no lack of Fifth Grade geniuses. There were also five instructors like me who personally tried to study it."

"And the result? Without exception, everyone failed."

"Eleven of them even suffered backlash from that spirit imprint because they tried to force a crack, causing permanent damage to their spirit sea of consciousness. The best one now can only drool on the bed."

Instructor Hera's voice became incomparably cold.

"Do you still think you have confidence now?"

She stared fixedly at Wang Pingan, wanting to see a trace of retreat or fear on his face.

However, she was disappointed.

Wang Pingan's face still wore that expression that was overly calm.

He even walked to the experiment table with great interest, carefully observing the black metal fragment through the energy shield.

"Instructor," Wang Pingan suddenly spoke.

"Hmm?"

"You just said the energy structure inside this fragment is like an encrypted program, right?"

"You can understand it that way." Instructor Hera didn't know what he wanted to say, but she still answered subconsciously.

"Then does that mean as long as I can find the correct 'key', I can crack it open?"

"Theoretically, that is so." Instructor Hera's brows furrowed. "But this 'key' might be a specific spirit fluctuation frequency, or it might be an extremely complex way of combining energy. We have studied it for three years and haven't found any leads."

"Oh..." Wang Pingan nodded thoughtfully.

Then, under Instructor Hera's gaze filled with doubt, he slowly extended a finger.

"Then... what if I directly use 'administrator privileges' to format it and reinstall a system?"

"What?" Instructor Hera was stunned; she completely didn't understand this flashy remark from Wang Pingan that was full of the "Earth network era" atmosphere.

Wang Pingan smiled and didn't explain further.

He gently tapped that finger on the transparent energy shield.

"Instructor, can you let me... try it?" His tone was full of sincerity.

Instructor Hera looked at his clear and confident eyes and, as if possessed, fell silent.

She didn't know why she was silent either.

Logically, she should have immediately blasted this arrogant kid who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth straight out.

But for some reason, looking at the youth's calm eyes, her heart, which had become as still as an ancient well due to years of research, actually produced a trace of an imperceptible ripple called curiosity.

She wanted to see.

What this freshman, who dared to speak wildly about "formatting" an ancient relic, really wanted to do.

"Only this once."

After a long while, Instructor Hera squeezed these words out from between her teeth.

With a wave of her hand, the energy shield covering the Star Map Fragment silently dissipated.

"If you dare to damage it by even a fraction, I guarantee your end will be a hundred times worse than those idiots lying in the medical pods," she warned coldly.

"Understood."

Wang Pingan took a deep breath.

He knew this was his only chance.

He sank all his focus into his own spirit sea of consciousness.

【Eye of Truth】 activated at full power!

Hum—!

The world before his eyes changed instantly.

That black metal fragment, which looked unremarkable to his naked eye, presented a completely different and shocking scene in his data vision!

Where was that just a fragment?

It was clearly a massive, unimaginably vast three-dimensional energy circuit composed of countless energy lines that were billions of times thinner than a strand of hair and flickering with different lights!

These energy lines were layered, interwoven, and tangled, forming a precise structure that was countless times more complex than a human brain.

And inside this complex structure, a massive, chaotic energy flow filled with violent and destructive aura was rampaging crazily and without any rules, like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins!

Every collision made the entire energy circuit tremble violently, flashing with dangerous red electric light.

This was what Instructor Hera called "chaotic internal energy structure".

And at the core of that chaotic energy flow, Wang Pingan "saw" a strange, rune-like imprint emitting dark golden light.

That was the so-called "unknown spirit imprint".

It was like a virus program, and it was precisely it that was constantly interfering with the normal operation of the entire energy circuit.

"Found it."

A gleam flashed in Wang Pingan's eyes.

He did not try to "crack" that spirit imprint like the people before him.

His idea was simple and crude.

What he wanted to do was not repair.

But... rebuild!

He extended his finger, the same finger that had just tapped on the energy shield.

Above his fingertip, a wisp of spirit thought-power, thinner than a strand of hair yet condensed to the extreme and emitting a faint silver radiance, probed out silently.

That wisp of spirit thought-power was like the most precise and sharpest scalpel.

It cut with extreme precision into the Star Map Fragment, into that massive and complex energy circuit.

Instructor Hera's pupils contracted sharply at this moment.

spirit power... external release?

And it was condensed to such a fine degree?

This kid...