169: Holy Site Anxiety and the Rise of "Reverse Research"

The news that the Logic Federation was obtaining exclusive information through the "visitor network," even vaguely speculating on the Cloud Court's "movements," ultimately could not be kept completely secret and quietly spread among small circles of high-level figures. This was like adding fuel to the fire of anxiety already burning in the hearts of the various Holy Lands dependent on the Cloud Court.

In the past, although everyone relied on the Cloud Court, they were essentially on the same starting line, competing over whose Sect was more devout, whose transformation was more similar, and whose local tributes were more pleasing. But now, the Logic Federation, this "anomaly," had actually used technological means completely beyond their comprehension to overtake them on the curve and be the first to obtain an "internal information channel"!

How could this be tolerated?!

The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Martial Arts Pavilion watched his Disciples systematically practicing their modified sword techniques, which strived for "naturalness." Then, thinking about how the Logic Federation might be analyzing the Cloud Court's "rule tides" in real-time, he suddenly felt his own efforts were utterly inadequate, like scratching an itch through a boot.

The Valley Master of the Myriad Grass Everlasting Spring Valley was meticulously cultivating an "Uncaring Orchid" that contained the Concept of "returning to simplicity," hoping to win the Cloud Court's favor during the next tribute. However, the thought that the Logic Federation might even know what flavor of "memory crystal" the Golden Koi preferred made him feel that his preparations held no advantage whatsoever.

Savage Bone of the Fierce Beast Star Domain didn't worry that much, but the Elders under him were anxious! Their Star Domain specialized in "fighting under rules," but what if the Cloud Court decided one day that fighting wasn't "civilized" enough and wanted to clean up the environment? If they had no warning, wouldn't they be completely blind?

Driven by anxiety, the Holy Land Leaders gathered once again to discuss countermeasures. Forcibly seizing "visitor privileges" was unrealistic, and they lacked any technical understanding. Therefore, there seemed to be only one path left: deepen their research into the Cloud Court itself, striving to "read" some of the Cloud Court's signs on their own!

A vigorous "reverse-engineering the Cloud Court" movement quietly unfolded at the Holy Land level.

However, their research methods were completely different from the Logic Federation's technological approach.

The Heavenly Secret Martial Arts Pavilion summoned all the Elders skilled in heavenly divination. They stopped divining their Disciples' Opportunities or the fortunes of various realms, focusing instead on the invisible flow of Dao Rhyme outside the Cloud Court. They attempted to summarize certain "signs" from the subtle changes in the Dao Rhyme's fluctuations

essuch as, "Dao Rhyme like a spring breeze indicates peace and harmony," or "Dao Rhyme resembling hidden thunder indicates rule changes"

esscompiling them into a thick volume titled cloud court dao rhyme Sign Interpretation.

The Myriad Grass Everlasting Spring Valley utilized its specialty. They were no longer satisfied with merely cultivating Spirit Medicine but began extensively planting various extremely sensitive "warning Immortal Plant" and "resonance Spirit Medicine wood" on the floating islands outside the Cloud Court. These plants themselves were almost worthless, but their growth status, flowering frequency, and leaf orientation would undergo visible changes with the subtle fluctuations of the Dao Rhyme. The Valley Master hoped to establish a "biological monitoring network" through this method.

The Thousand Illusions Sound and Rhythm Mansion took a different approach. They selected the Disciples with the sharpest spiritual senses to guard the Cloud Court border day and night, using their minds to "listen" to the omnipresent "sound" of the Dao Rhyme. They believed that the flow of the Dao Rhyme had its own "rhythm," and this rhythm must contain information. They attempted to record these "Dao sounds," decipher their meaning, and even tried to simulate and "respond" to them using musical instruments.

Other Holy Lands also exhibited their Divine Ability, each employing their unique methods. Some studied the periodic changes in the Impurities within the Chaos Qi Flow outside the Cloud Court; others recorded the correlation between the drift trajectories of attached floating islands and the Dao Rhyme fluctuations. One Sect even raised a large group of "psychic treasure-seeking rats," releasing them daily toward the Cloud Court border, hoping these little creatures could instinctively sense signs of some "treasure" about to emerge or "danger" about to descend. To the scientists of the Logic Federation, these research methods might seem primitive, inefficient, and full of subjective conjecture and coincidence. But to a cultivation civilization lacking technological means, this was the closest way they could possibly "understand" the Cloud Court.

Long Qianyuan quickly discovered these new actions by the Holy Lands. He looked at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion's Sign Interpretation, which read like a fortune-telling book, saw the "warning grass" planted everywhere by the Myriad Grass Valley that collectively tilted its neck when the wind blew, and then heard that the Disciples of the Sound and Rhythm Mansion were "listening to the wind" at the border every day. He almost burst out laughing.

"These guys have truly gone mad," he complained to Nie Li. "Wouldn't it be better to spend this time basking in the sun and tending flowers? Why do they insist on acting like intelligence agents?"

Nie Li maintained his usual calm and placid demeanor: "The heart seeking the Dao is indomitable. Although the methods are clumsy, their intent is commendable."

"Commendable? They're just purely bored," Long Qianyuan dismissed. "Forget it, let them mess around, as long as they don't plant those crooked-neck grasses right outside our door."

However, events often unfold in unexpected ways.

Perhaps it was a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse, or perhaps quantitative change truly led to qualitative change. After the Holy Lands invested immense enthusiasm and resources into "reverse research" for a period, they genuinely managed to produce some... vague and inexplicable "results."

For example, an Elder from the Heavenly Secret Martial Arts Pavilion, using the entry in the Sign Interpretation that stated, "Purple Qi extending three thousand miles to the east indicates the arrival of a distinguished guest," combined with recent Dao Rhyme monitoring, successfully "predicted" the approximate arrival time of a delegation sent from a remote plane for pilgrimage. Although the prediction was off by half a month, it was enough to greatly excite everyone in the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.

The "warning grass" of the Myriad Grass Everlasting Spring Valley experienced widespread leaf curling during a Logic Federation test involving the fine-tuning of a "Dao Rhyme signal transceiver array" power output. Although the Valley Master did not understand the specific reason, he recorded it as a "sign of unknown strong energy interference." Later, during a private exchange with the Federation, the time points actually matched up, making the Myriad Grass Valley feel they had mastered a "monitoring method."

The most mystical result came from the Thousand Illusions Sound and Rhythm Mansion. A uniquely talented Disciple, after long-term "listening to the Dao sounds," suddenly improvised an extremely strange yet inexplicably harmonious melody one day. Simultaneously with his playing, the Golden Koi in the Cloud Court pond uncharacteristically blew three identical, structurally regular bubbles consecutively toward the direction of the Sound and Rhythm Mansion. The Sound and Rhythm Mansion treasured this, revering the melody as the "Immortal Koi-Luring Sound," studying it day and night. Although they never successfully lured the Koi bubbles again afterward, the incident itself was Legendary enough.

These scattered "results," full of coincidence and even somewhat ridiculous, greatly boosted the morale of the Holy Lands! They felt their direction was correct! Although slow and clumsy, as long as they persevered, one day they too would be able to truly "understand" the Cloud Court, just like the Logic Federation!

Consequently, the trend of "reverse research" intensified within the Holy Lands, even giving rise to a group of "Cloud Studies" experts dedicated to researching the Cloud Court. They spent their days either observing celestial phenomena (Dao Rhyme), fiddling with flowers and plants (warning grass), or pretentiously "listening to the sounds of nature" (Dao sounds), creating a new, slightly strange scenic line outside the Cloud Court.

Inside the Star Gazing Hall, Yun Feng took in all these diverse "research" efforts of the Holy Lands, maintaining his usual unperturbed expression.

"The thirst for knowledge is also an inherent nature," he murmured, casually tossing a pebble into the pond, creating a ripple that happened to perfectly match the frequency of the chaotic zither music being played by a Disciple from the Thousand Illusions Sound and Rhythm Mansion far away, who was attempting to imitate the "Dao sounds."

The Disciple instantly felt as if he had heard immortal music, becoming so excited that tears filled his eyes, believing he had finally received a "response" from the Cloud Court.

Yun Feng shook his head slightly and ceased paying attention.

His gaze returned to the Golden Koi. It was facing an "interaction crystal" recently delivered by the Logic Federation, which contained the "feasibility study for conscious digital uploading." The golden spot on its forehead was flashing at an unprecedented speed, as if he were fully engaged in some complex "logical deduction" and "rule verification."

The surface of the pond reflected the persistent and busy figures beyond the Void Realm

essethose relying on technology, those cultivating, those researching artifacts' spirits, and those interpreting signs. They were like blind men touching an elephant, trying to piece together the full picture of the Cloud Court from various angles.

And the Cloud Court itself remained silently present, like an endless enigma, attracting all beings who yearned for knowledge and power to follow one after another. It was just unknown whether the one who could ultimately touch its core would be the scientist relying on rigorous logic, the cultivator relying on profound enlightenment, or... the Koi who was diligently learning "science."