163: Chapter 163 Who Dares to Launch a Night Raid on Baiyujing?

Exiting the Source Realm, Chen You opened his eyes, greeted by the familiar white dome and the faces of Director Li Guoan and the experts, filled with concern mixed with excitement.

"That tower... did you create that?"

Director Li Guoan's voice was suppressed with agitation.

Clearly, in the few minutes Chen You was constructing the demon suppressing pagoda and acquiring the Mythical Skill, the command center had exploded into a frenzy.

Chen You moved his body slightly, and without wasting words, synchronized his experience.

"Hiss--"

A collective gasp echoed through the command center.

"Ten percent suppression on all attributes, plus a chance for fear? This is practically a rogue barrier that makes it a home-field advantage!"

Sun Feng, the Data Team Leader, adjusted his glasses, his eyes beneath the lenses shining astonishingly bright.

"The key is that Mythical Skill!" tactical team leader Zhang Yunhai slapped his thigh.

"A clone that inherits 100% of the base attributes! Little Chen, can this... can this be used in reality?"

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on Chen You.

This question was also the one Chen You most wanted answered.

Chen You closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and attempted to use the skill from the Source Realm.

He could clearly sense the spiritual energy flowing through his meridians, even mobilizing it to condense faint cyan arcs of electricity at his fingertips--

That was the nascent form of the Divine Firmament Heavenly Thunder Orthodox Method he had just learned.

However, when he tried to use [Shadow Clone], consuming half his spiritual energy to construct the shadow, his spiritual energy remained completely unresponsive.

No skill icon lit up, no shadow energy converged.

The real world was utterly silent.

Chen You opened his eyes and shook his head at the crowd.

"It failed."

The expected disappointment flashed across everyone's faces, but it was quickly replaced by contemplation.

Sun Feng immediately started operating the virtual screen in front of him, muttering to himself.

"As expected... the power of the Source Realm seems to have some kind of restriction."

"Some powers can be partially projected into reality."

"But some abilities cannot cross the barrier between the Source Realm and reality."

"Even so, it is already enough," Director Li Guoan spoke in a deep voice, breaking the silence.

His gaze sharpened again, "This clone is your greatest security guarantee."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

This was equivalent to providing Chen You with an almost unsolvable form of insurance.

Chen You's heart stirred, and he looked towards Director Li Guoan.

Director Li Guoan seemed to have thought of the same thing. He met Chen You's eyes and slowly said, "Sun Feng's guess is probably close to the truth."

"The power of the Source Realm is not bestowed out of thin air."

"The reason cultivation abilities can take effect in reality might be because of your fundamental life essence."

"Or rather, on a genetic level, you inherently possess the 'interface' to carry this power."

"The Source Realm only provides the 'key' and the 'energy source' to activate it."

This conclusion caused all the experts present to fall into deep thought.

"There is one more issue," Pan Yu, the social relations expert who had been silent, suddenly spoke up, her expression somewhat grave.

"Judging from this world boss battle, the players from other races don't seem to fear death very much."

The total number of player deaths in this world boss battle was likely in the tens of thousands.

Pan Yu's fingers slid across the screen, pulling up another chart showing the personnel structures of other civilizations collected so far.

"I have a speculation. Could it be that their 'denominator' is large enough?"

"Denominator?"

"Yes," Pan Yu nodded. "If a civilization has tens of thousands, or even millions of players in the Source Realm?"

"If that cost is spread out among every individual, the loss caused by the death of a single player might become negligible."

"When the denominator is large enough, the weight of a single numerator approaches zero indefinitely,"

Sun Feng murmured, instantly grasping the logic.

This deduction made the atmosphere in the command center heavy again.

This meant that in future conflicts, the enemy could use human wave tactics, employing a cost that disregarded casualties to wear Chen You down.

Yet, Chen You could not afford to die even once.

Because the huaxia civilization had only one player: Chen You.

His death represented the 'total annihilation' of the entire civilization!

"The newbie protection period has sixteen days left,"

Director Li Guoan's voice pulled everyone back to reality. His gaze turned to Sun Feng.

"According to your latest data model projections, what realm does Little Chen need to reach to directly contend with Level 90+ players like Salos in terms of attributes?"

Sun Feng's expression was more serious than ever. On the screen before him, countless data points scrolled wildly, finally freezing on a despair-inducing conclusion.

"Director, our database is not complete enough; we lack the key data for major realm breakthroughs."

"We also cannot estimate whether Salos and the others have any special bonuses."

"But... judging solely by the current basic attribute growth curve model, to avoid being crushed in terms of offense, defense, and health..."

He took a deep breath and uttered three words.

"Golden Core Realm."

Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core.

Chen You was currently at the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining.

Sixteen days, to advance from the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining to the Golden Core Realm?

Even Chen You felt uncertain.

This was no longer a matter of grinding; this was a cultivation speed that even immortal cultivation novels wouldn't dare to write.

The command center fell into dead silence.

Everyone understood the weight behind those three words.

Chen You surveyed the room and offered a smile he thought was quite dashing.

"I don't think it's a big problem. I happen to have the clone available later, so the main body just needs to stay in the training room!"

The crowd also started laughing upon hearing this.

They could naturally see that Chen You was trying to comfort them.

But until that day arrived, who knew if it would work?

Even if he didn't reach the Golden Core Realm, it didn't mean there were no other solutions, right?

Why be so anxious.

With a thought from Chen You, an ancient, thread-bound manual materialized in his hand, its cover faintly flashing with lightning—the Divine Firmament Heavenly Thunder Orthodox Method.

"This is the other reward for ranking first this time, a Heaven-rank cultivation method."

Chen You handed the manual to Director Li Guoan, his tone calm.

"I've looked at this method. It doesn't have specific cultivation prerequisites, so it should be very suitable for the comrades in the dragon scale project."

Director Li Guoan took the manual, feeling a slight weight in his hand.

He looked at Chen You's composed eyes and nodded, not saying thank you.

Some things required no words.

Just then--

"Beep--! Beep--! Beep--!"

A sharp, grating alarm sounded without any warning!

"Warning! Level One Alert! Unknown reaction target is rapidly approaching the White Jade Capital airspace!"

Sun Feng almost roared the words out.

He stared intently at the bright spot on the main screen that was continuously approaching the Qinling red circle area, his fingers moving so fast on the virtual keyboard they were almost a blur.

This was... an enemy attack?

The experts present were not children; they instantly grasped a possible scenario.

"Issue the order!"

Director Li Guoan showed no sign of panic.

"Activate Contingency Plan One! All defense units disengage safety locks, authorized for autonomous firing!"

"Notify Academician Qian, Chief Designer Zhang, and the others to immediately evacuate to the underground safe haven! Quickly!"