339: A grand gathering of craftsmen and the stirrings of the fetus

The presence of Special Envoy Chu Yunfan served as an invisible barrier, temporarily blocking the overt and covert attacks against the Starfall Pavilion and winning a precious period of peaceful development for Zhenbei City. With external pressure suddenly reduced, the strength accumulated within the city began to sprout and grow vigorously, like spring bamboo shoots breaking through the soil.

Everyone in Zhenbei City understood that this peace was hard-won and realized even more that the "attention" from the Sky Patrol Inspectorate was actually a strict scrutiny. Whether they could seize this opportunity to truly gain a foothold in the Beiyuan Realm, surrounded by powerful enemies, depended entirely on their performance in the coming days. An unprecedented drive permeated the entire city.

The transformation and innovation of technology entered the fast lane. Wei Rong from the Artifact Hall led the Disciples to study the properties of the "thick earth jade marrow" day and night, successfully developing several new types of Magical Artifacts. The most eye-catching among them was a defensive Magical Artifact called the "Immovable Seal". Using the "thick earth jade marrow" as its core and powered by the earth-type Spiritual Qi from the newly born Spiritual Vein, it could form an incredibly solid, earth-yellow light shield once activated. Its defensive power was comparable to the Protective Aura of a Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator, and it possessed strong resistance to the erosion of Devilish Qi. Although it was difficult to refine and production was limited, it had already shown huge potential.

Su Wan from the Pill Hall focused on the research of mutated Spiritual Plants and successfully improved the Pill Formula for the "thick earth cultivation pill". The newly refined "earth origin pill" had a milder and more lasting effect, which had a miraculous effect on helping Foundation Establishment Cultivators break through small Bottlenecks, and was even beneficial for consolidating the cultivation of those in the Early Stage of the Golden Core. In addition, the first batch of "jade marrow spiritual grain" produced from the spiritual fields enlightened by the jade marrow heart had been harvested. The mild Spiritual Qi it contained was extremely easy to absorb, making it an excellent auxiliary product for the daily Cultivate of Cultivators in the city.

These unique specialties began to flow in small batches into some neutral markets and small forces in the Beiyuan Realm through the more secretive and multi-line trade routes re-established by Sun Yan. Although the volume was not large, they gradually accumulated a reputation due to their unique effects and excellent quality. The Spirit Stones and basic resources exchanged effectively relieved the city's financial pressure. The technical brand of Zhenbei City was quietly making a name for itself.

On this day, Special Envoy Chu Yunfan sent word: To promote exchanges between Human Race forces within the realm and encourage technological innovation to jointly resist the Devilish Qi disaster, the Beiyuan Realm branch of the Sky Patrol Inspectorate would hold a "Hundred Crafts Grand Assembly" in "Tiangong City", a large city in the middle of the realm, three months later. They invited various cultivation forces with unique characteristics from all realms to participate and showcase their unique skills and products. The Sky Patrol Inspectorate would provide official certification and a certain degree of resource inclination based on the value and potential of the exhibits.

When the news arrived, the high-level officials of Zhenbei City were shaken. This was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity! If they could stand out at this assembly, not only would it allow Zhenbei City's technology to truly enter the mainstream vision of the Beiyuan Realm and gain wider recognition and cooperation opportunities, but it would also directly prove their "value" to the Sky Patrol Inspectorate!

"We must participate! And we must make a splash!" Lin Shanhe made the decision immediately. "This is a key step for us to break the blockade and move towards a wider world!"

A plan called "Making a Name at the Hundred Crafts" was quickly launched. The elites from the Artifact Hall, Pill Hall, and Formation Hall were all dispatched to form a special task force. With the "Immovable Seal", "earth origin pill", and "Spirit Web node optimization scheme" as core exhibits, they went all out to tackle key problems, striving to produce the most mature and representative achievements before the assembly. Sun Yan from the Internal Affairs Hall was responsible for preparing for the exhibition and selecting capable personnel to form the delegation.

All the city's resources were tilted toward the participation plan, and a positive, hopeful atmosphere enveloped Zhenbei City. Even Special Envoy Chu Yunfan, who was stationed outside the city, would occasionally reveal a trace of imperceptible approval on his serious face after observing the vigorous spirit and tangible technological progress within the city.

However, just as the entire town was actively preparing for the grand assembly and everything was flourishing, two subtle variables were quietly brewing.

Deep in the Donghua Mining Area, Shi Lei had recently noticed something unusual while resonating with the jade marrow heart. While the spirituality of the jade marrow heart was steadily recovering and even improving, it would occasionally transmit an extremely faint, indescribable... sense of "palpitation"? It was not fear or anxiety, but more like a kind of... "sensing" or "calling" to some source of the same origin in the distance? This sensing was extremely vague, intermittent, and the direction seemed to point to... somewhere far away in the south?

Shi Lei informed Elder Jiang of this discovery. Elder Jiang pondered for a long time and speculated: "The jade marrow heart has fused with the Dao rhyme of the sky-patrolling mirror fragment and has been nourished by the essence of the earth, so its spirituality is no longer ordinary. Perhaps... its spiritual perception has improved, and it has sensed some extremely distant existence related to the heaven-patrolling mirror or pure Spiritual Veins? Record this matter for now, do not make it public, and continue to observe."

Almost at the same time, on the southern front, Elder Xuanji, who was responsible for monitoring the newly born Spiritual Vein and the spirit fetus, also sent back a secret message. The spirit fetus in the center of that "pure land" had recently shown increasingly vigorous life fluctuations, and its growth rate seemed to have accelerated slightly. But occasionally, a trace of extremely subtle... sharp Qi, different from the vitality of the earth, would emerge around the spirit fetus? Although it flashed away, it made the Disciples responsible for monitoring feel an inexplicable palpitation.

Combining Shi Lei's discovery, Elder Jiang vaguely had a bold conjecture in his heart: Could it be... the gestation of that spirit fetus was not purely a creature of the Spiritual Vein, and its core... might contain a trace of extremely thin... Innate mirror spirit Qi derived from that dissipated sky-patrolling mirror fragment? That was why it could resonate with the jade marrow heart from afar? If this was true, the future of this spirit fetus would be limitless! But the Karma and risks involved would also be greater.

He secretly reported this conjecture to Lin Shanhe. Lin Shanhe pondered for a long time and instructed: "Monitor it closely, but let nature take its course. Regardless of what the spirit fetus is, it is the Earth Spirit of our city right now, so we must do our best to protect its growth."

Just as these undercurrents were surging internally, the external shadows had not completely dissipated.

Although the Starfall Pavilion had restrained itself on the surface, its secret surveillance and intelligence gathering had never stopped. The news of Zhenbei City preparing to participate in the "Hundred Crafts Grand Assembly" was soon learned by them.

Looking at the intelligence, Elder Huangfu Shen of the Starfall Pavilion Headquarters sneered repeatedly: "Hundred Crafts Grand Assembly? Want to use this to turn things around? Wishful thinking!" He turned to the sinister Elder, "Notify our people in Tiangong City to get ready. At the assembly, I want to make this Zhenbei City... disgraced! Let their crude skills become the laughing stock of the entire Northern Frontier!"

A vicious plan aimed at Zhenbei City's participation began to be laid out in secret.

The wind was blowing, signaling the coming storm. Zhenbei City was forging ahead in hope, not knowing that what awaited them ahead was not just a stage for display, but also carefully laid traps.

Three months passed in a flash. The Zhenbei City exhibition team had been formed, led by Wei Rong from the Artifact Hall and Su Wan from the Pill Hall. Carrying carefully prepared exhibits and escorted by the elites of the Internal Affairs Hall, they were about to set off for Tiangong City.

On the eve of their departure, Lin Shanhe personally saw the delegation off and encouraged them: "This trip concerns the future of our city. You bear a heavy responsibility. You should be neither humble nor arrogant, display our skills, and spread our prestige!"

"We will not fail the mission!" Wei Rong, Su Wan, and others accepted the order solemnly.

However, on the very morning when the delegation set off, during his routine resonance, the jade marrow heart suddenly sent an extremely strong and clear warning! The thought was filled with chaos, conspiracy, and danger, and the direction it pointed to was exactly Tiangong City, where the delegation was heading!

"City Lord! The jade marrow heart is warning us! Tiangong City... there might be trouble! This trip for the delegation... is highly ominous!" Shi Lei's face turned pale as he rushed to report.

Hearing this, Lin Shanhe's heart sank. The spiritual perception of the jade marrow heart had been verified many times and could not be ignored.

"The delegation will delay its departure!" He immediately ordered, looking sharply toward the south. "It seems that this 'Hundred Crafts Grand Assembly'... is not a smooth path. We need... more comprehensive preparations."

The dawn that had just appeared seemed to be shrouded in a haze again. The road to entrepreneurship and prosperity for Zhenbei City was destined to be full of challenges at every step.