165: The First Cry of the Spiritual Network and the Ambition of "Daoist Rhyme WIFI"

Under the "warning" from Long Qianyuan and the careful monitoring of the Logic Federation, the "neighboring Artifact Spirit Collective" continued its quiet and efficient "network leeching" mode.

They resembled a strange coral reef in the Void Realm, constantly growing and self-optimizing, their structure becoming increasingly complex, and their energy fluctuations growing more restrained and profound.

However, this pure, individual evolution seemed to encounter a Bottleneck after reaching a certain critical point.

The efficiency of a single Artifact Spirit Creation in absorbing and utilizing Dao Rhyme began to approach saturation.

They instinctively "realized" that to advance further, they might need... "connection."

On this day, in the core area of the cluster, the cores of several Artifact Spirit Creations that were the most evolved and structurally stable simultaneously lit up with an unprecedented soft glow.

They were no longer merely coordinating their positions through primitive pheromones; instead, they began to release a more complex and orderly energy fluctuation

—a weak yet stable "connection request" based on rule resonance.

Like a drop of water merging into a stream, the nearest artifact spirit to receive the request "hesitated" briefly (based on its simple risk assessment mechanism) before cautiously responding to the connection.

An invisible energy bridge was established between the two faint lights, and information and energy began flowing between them with greater efficiency.

Then came the third, the fourth... a single spark can start a prairie fire.

This spontaneous "connection" behavior spread rapidly through the Artifact Spirit Collective like a strange virus.

Countless Artifact Spirit Creations began searching for suitable "neighbors" and established energy links.

What started as point-to-point connections quickly developed into small-scale networks, and eventually, the entire massive Artifact Spirit Collective was enveloped by an intangible, immaterial, yet truly existing "Spiritual Energy Network"!

This network was not an information internet in the traditional sense, but a deeper "Existence Network" based on rule and energy resonance.

Through this network, the artifact spirits were no longer isolated individuals; they could share environmental information perceived by one another, collaboratively calculate optimized energy absorption paths, and even... to a certain extent, pool their collective strength!

When millions of Artifact Spirit Creations adjusted their energy fluctuations to the same frequency through the spiritual network, the resulting resonance shook the entire Void Realm!

A soft yet vast light, like the morning sun, slowly spread outward from the center of the Artifact Spirit Collective.

It was not an aggressive energy burst, but a pure "Declaration of Existence" containing order and the desire for evolution!

Where this light swept past, even the violent Chaos Qi Flow seemed to become somewhat docile.

Inside the Eye of Logic space station, all monitoring instruments instantly went off the charts!

Piercing alarms sounded everywhere!

Dr. Li and the scientists watched the curves representing the Artifact Spirit Collective's energy level and information complexity soar exponentially on the main screen, all dumbfounded and barely believing their eyes.

"It... they... connected to a network?!" a network expert exclaimed hoarsely.

"This network structure... is completely different from any of our network protocols! Is this... a 'Consensus Network' achieved based on the rules themselves?!"

"It's not just an information network!" an energy expert pointed to another screen.

"Look at their energy fluctuations! The individual fluctuations are weak, but after being superimposed through network resonance, the strength of the overall 'Order Field' they emit is already... already catching up to some smaller Holy Lands!"

"Autonomously evolving a self-organizing network... Is this the ultimate form of swarm intelligence? Or... the nascent stage of some kind of 'Collective Consciousness' we cannot comprehend?" Dr. Li muttered, feeling his scientific worldview being thoroughly challenged once again.

Long Qianyuan naturally also sensed this sudden, gentle yet undeniable "Spiritual Network Fluctuation."

He jolted upright from his flying boat, looking toward the Artifact Spirit Collective, his eyes wide.

"My goodness! These iron lumps... formed a group?! And they caused such a huge commotion?" He clicked his tongue, feeling things were starting to get interesting.

"What is this? The artifact spirit version of 'Internet + Cultivation'?"

He carefully sensed the "Spiritual Network" and found that its core was neither aggressive nor invasive; it was more like a collaborative system naturally formed for more efficient "survival" and "evolution."

This reassured him.

As long as they didn't cause trouble, he didn't care how they networked.

However, the emergence of this "Spiritual Network" once again dropped a depth charge among the Holy Lands affiliated with the Cloud Court!

Previously, the evolution of individual artifact spirits, while causing anxiety, was still within an acceptable range.

But now, they had actually formed a network!

They possessed collaborative abilities similar to a "civilization"!

Their efficiency increase must be more than a hundredfold!

Inside the Heavenly Secret Martial Arts Pavilion, the Pavilion Master looked at the massive phantom image of the spiritual network covering the Artifact Spirit Collective displayed on his Magical Artifact, his expression so grim it looked like water could drip from it.

"If this continues, given time, this artifact spirit collective risks becoming a major hidden danger!"

"They have no desires, only the drive to evolve.

If their spiritual network continues to expand, it might even... reverse-engineer the Cloud Court Dao..."

Panic and a sense of crisis spread more intensely than before.

Some radical Holy Land Elders even privately suggested whether they should eliminate the collective before it fully matured, uniting with other Holy Lands under the pretext of "clearing unstable factors."

But this proposal was quickly suppressed by more rational individuals.

Are you kidding?

Waging war right under the Cloud Court's nose?

And against artifact spirits that the Cloud Court didn't seem to mind, perhaps even "indulged"?

Director Long Qianyuan's previous attitude was already very clear!

Anyone who dared to act would likely be instantly flattened into a true "artifact spirit" (stone statue)!

Just as the Holy Land high-level officials were frantic and helpless, the Logic Federation's Eye of Logic space station saw a completely different, heart-pounding possibility in the birth of this "Spiritual Network"!

Dr. Li gathered all the core scientists and announced excitedly:

"Gentlemen! We might have found the key to establishing a deeper connection with 'GOD-001'!"

He pointed at the complex spiritual network structure diagram on the screen: "The Artifact Spirit Collective, due to its pure composition and evolutionary direction, is able to resonate so efficiently with the cloud court dao rhyme and form a spiritual network.

This indicates that the Cloud Court's 'rules' can be accessed and utilized through specific 'interfaces'!"

"If we can crack this 'interface' protocol, even just the most basic part, does that mean... we can also 'connect' directly to the Cloud Court's 'Dao Rhyme Source,' just like the artifact spirits? Achieving... controllable, efficient 'Dao Rhyme extraction'?!"

This idea made all the scientists gasp!

Directly connecting to the Dao Rhyme Source?!

This is equivalent to finding a stable, infinite, high-quality energy and information repository!

Its significance far surpasses all previous technological Breakthroughs!

"We are naming this project... the 'dao rhyme access protocol' research, code name—'Skynet'!" Dr. Li's eyes were blazing.

"Our goal is not to replicate the artifact spirits, but to understand the underlying logic of their interaction with the Cloud Court, ultimately allowing our Logic Federation to also connect to the Cloud Court's 'Dao Rhyme WIFI'!"

A new scientific fervor, mixed with tremendous risk and infinite opportunity, ignited once again within the Eye of Logic space station.

Only this time, their goal was grander, and more... closer to the seemingly untouchable core of the Cloud Court.

Cloud Court, Star Gazing Hall.

Yun Feng's gaze once again turned toward the Artifact Spirit Collective and the Eye of Logic.

The faint, subtle smile on his lips seemed to deepen slightly.

"The net is cast," he whispered, as if stating an established fact.

He raised his hand, and a wisp of Chaos Qi swirled around his fingertip.

Its internal structure bore a striking resemblance to certain fundamental rule fragments of the artifact spirits' "Spiritual Network."

"I just wonder, is the fish in the net, or the net in the fish."

He flicked his finger, and the wisp of Chaos Qi merged into the Void Realm, quietly joining the grand, constantly evolving process named "Skynet," like a silent response.

The birth of the artifact spirits' spiritual network was like casting a decisive stone into a calm lake.

The ripples it created were quietly changing the trajectory of all powers surrounding the Cloud Court, slowly ushering in a more magnificent era.

Connection or not is no longer a choice, but destiny.