130: Chapter 130 Computing Bottleneck

"Shen Weilan, stay behind for a moment."

As the others left one by one, Zhang Mingxuan called out to Shen Weilan, who was preparing to go to the academy to teach the first batch of students. He pointed to the Central Tower, the core area of the base and the only place where that rune supercomputer roared day and night.

"The current computing power is not enough."

Zhang Mingxuan was straightforward. "Single-core operation is the Bottleneck; I want multi-core... no, I want a cluster."

Shen Weilan paused, immediately understanding what Zhang Mingxuan meant, but the expression on his face became quite colorful, as if looking at a madman: "You mean... mass-produce that thing? Do you know how much of the Wanfa Sect's inventory that one prototype burned through?"

"Give me a quote." Zhang Mingxuan remained expressionless.

"If we exclude the rare Materials that only the Wanfa Sect has and switch to substitutes that the Bian Chamber of Commerce can collect..." Shen Weilan calculated rapidly in his mind, his fingers twitching unconsciously. "The cost per unit is at least six million Spirit Stones. Furthermore, heat dissipation is a huge problem. One unit requires an entire Profound Ice River to cool it down; if you want to build a cluster, I'm afraid you'd have to move half of the Extreme North Ice Plain here."

"Six million per unit."

Zhang Mingxuan didn't care about that astronomical figure. DeepEye instantly provided a stress model based on the chamber's current profitability. "As long as the chamber is operating normally, I can afford to build two per quarter. Use the current cash on hand to build ten first."

"As for heat dissipation... Ye Duan just discovered a tributary of the 'Yin River' in the Dongxu Daoist Field on the lower level. The temperature there is low enough to freeze a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator to death, which is perfect for a liquid cooling pool."

He drew a huge rectangular Formation on the table. "I want you to design a parallel architecture. Phase one goal: one hundred units. Every ten units will form a computing node, increasing the total computing power to... one hundred times the current amount."

"A madman... but I like it." Flames ignited in Shen Weilan's eyes. "As long as the money is in place, even the stars in the sky, I'll calculate them for you. Give me three months, and I'll produce the parallel circuit diagram for you."

Having settled the core issue of computing power, Zhang Mingxuan turned and passed through the teleportation array to the plaza on the outskirts of the base.

Su Li was directing a group of Puppets to move supplies. Although they had moved into this absolutely safe Dongxu Secret Realm, the look of worry on his face had not diminished. For a merchant, being cut off from the world meant a dead end.

"Master." Seeing Zhang Mingxuan approach, Su Li quickly saluted.

"Pack up. Take people out tomorrow."

Zhang Mingxuan's words made Su Li tremble, then he was overjoyed. "Is the Master planning to restart foreign trade?"

"Not just trade. The Bian Chamber of Commerce cannot become a dead city; we need a constant flow of blood—Spirit Stones, Materials, intelligence, and population."

Zhang Mingxuan looked at the fake sky above. "Although there are many resources in this Secret Realm, there will eventually come a day when we exhaust them. I want you to turn the Bian Chamber of Commerce into a net covering the entire Five Domains; I want to know about any movement at the first opportunity."

"But... Master, if we lose the protection of the base, we will be a tall tree attracting the wind outside..." Su Li hesitated. The current Bian Chamber of Commerce is a piece of fat meat; without that terrifying underground fortress, it would be easily torn apart by those jealous factions.

"That is why I have prepared bodyguards for you."

Zhang Mingxuan waved his hand.

Boom, boom, boom—

Heavy footsteps came from the direction of the soldier warehouse. Fifty phalanxes, totaling two hundred and fifty Golden Core-level Puppets clad in heavy armor and exuding cold Killing Intent, stopped in the plaza with uniform steps.

Among them were one hundred and fifty Executioners and one hundred Qingmu Guards.

This was a steel legion capable of capturing a medium-sized immortal city in a short time.

"Fifty sets of Five Elements Battle Array Puppets are fully under your command." Zhang Mingxuan tossed a Jade Slip engraved with a military talisman to Su Li. "If you encounter small Sects, crush them directly. If those first-rate Sects cause trouble... endure it for now. As long as a Grand Elder does not make a move, this army, combined with the communication authority Heizhang left you, is enough for you to retreat unscathed."

Su Li held the Jade Slip, his hands trembling.

"Subordinate... will definitely not fail the mission! Even if I die, I will transport every single Spirit Stone back to the base!"

Su Li knelt on the ground, kowtowing heavily to Zhang Mingxuan, then stood up, his eyes becoming unprecedentedly ruthless. With this army, he, Su Li, was the true "God of Wealth of the Southern Border."

After sending off Su Li and the Puppet legion, Zhang Mingxuan did not leave the plaza immediately but turned towards the solitary peak located at the edge of the base.

There, Heizhang was sitting quietly on a protruding rock, facing west. Although there was no real sun in the Dongxu Daoist Field, only a light source simulated by the Formation, he still strictly executed the "observe sunset" instruction, the aperture in his mechanical eyes adjusting focus as the light source moved.

"DeepEye, read Heizhang's core logs. Search keyword: logical anomaly."

Zhang Mingxuan's Divine Sense probed in along the connection channel.

[Log retrieving...]

[Tactical Execution Module: Normal.]

[Energy Circulation Module: Normal.]

[Emotion Simulation Module (Experimental): No response.]

The data remained a cold green; it seemed that the plan to make inanimate objects give birth to a Soul made no progress.

"Wait."

Zhang Mingxuan's gaze suddenly fixed on an inconspicuous background record.

[Anomaly Record: T-7200 seconds. After the 'sunset' ended, the target did not immediately switch back to standby mode but continued to stare into the dark Void Realm for 3.4 seconds.]

[DeepEye Judgment: Invalid operation. This behavior consumed 0.002% of computing power with no tactical benefit.]

"Invalid operation..."

Zhang Mingxuan's lips curled slightly. For a machine, this is a BUG. But for a life form, this is called "daydreaming," or perhaps "reminiscing."

Even if it was only three seconds of "meaninglessness," it meant that he had chiseled an imperceptible crack in the dense wall of logic.

"It seems that simply looking at the scenery is still too monotonous. You need a more complex environment and more samples of human nature."

He took a step, and with a flash, he appeared behind Heizhang.

"Get up."

Heizhang stood up fluidly, turned around, and his eyes returned to that calm, deep blue. "Instructions?"

"I want you to leave here."

Zhang Mingxuan pointed in the direction Su Li had left. "Although Su Li has an army, he is too greedy and too prone to getting carried away. Fifty sets of battle arrays are enough for he to run rampant in the lower levels of the cultivation world, but they cannot guard against Nascent Soul assassins in the shadows."

"Follow him. Protect him closely."

"Unless he faces a fatal situation or the core interests of the Bian Chamber of Commerce are damaged, do not make a move, and do not expose your existence."

This was adding a final insurance policy for Su Li, and also a new assignment for Heizhang.

"You need to observe Su Li, observe his greed, his fear, his cunning. Go see the ugly behavior of Mortals and low-level Cultivators when faced with profit and death." Zhang Mingxuan's voice was low. "That is data that is more complex and more real than a sunset."

Heizhang was silent for a moment.

His AI seemed to be evaluating the logical weight of this task. Protecting a weakling and observing invalid data contradicted his underlying logic as a "maximum efficiency killing machine."

But he did not refuse. Because the first rule of his underlying code is: Absolute Obedience.

"Instruction confirmed. Target: Su Li. Mission: Secret guard and... sociological observation."

Heizhang lowered his head slightly, and faint blue tail flames spewed from the thrusters on his back. He did not take the teleportation array but turned directly into a stream of black light, rushing out along the edge of the space channel, his speed actually twice as fast as Su Li's spirit boat Formation.

Zhang Mingxuan watched the disappearing stream of light, his eyes deep.

"When you start to think about why Su Li would tremble with excitement over a few Spirit Stones... you won't be far from 'coming alive'."