127: Forced Summoning, Eerie Bone Forest

"Senior Brother Yan, Senior Brother Bai..."

Su Ling stood by the Spirit Cannon, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the cold barrel of the lightning element spirit cannon.

His gaze, however, passed through the crowd and landed on the azure figure at the ship's bow.

Around him were over ten metal element cultivators; although they did not communicate, they all maintained a tacit vigilance.

Those who could be conscripted by the black armor mothership were all Core Formation Mid-stage or higher Cultivators, and their strength was not to be underestimated.

Su Ling's Sea of Consciousness operated rapidly, and combining the information on the leaderboard, he quickly locked onto the identity of the Cultivator surnamed Yan.

Yan Wushuang, ranked fifteenth on the leaderboard, a direct Disciple of the Bitao Sect. Ten years ago, he was still at the Peak Core Formation Stage, but now he had advanced to become a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

As for that 'Senior Brother Bai', it was most likely Bai Yifan, who was ranked eleventh.

Also a direct Disciple of the Bitao Sect, the two of them had been ranked within the top thirty on the leaderboard back then.

Now that they had both advanced to the Nascent Soul stage together, it was within expectations.

"It's just... why would Core Formation Cultivators be forcibly conscripted by a Nascent Soul?"

The doubt in Su Ling's heart never dissipated. His gaze swept over the Cultivators on the deck, finally landing on a kind-faced middle-aged Cultivator nearby.

The other party was dressed in gray robes, and the fluctuations of spiritual power around him were steady; at a glance, he was a person of steady character.

Su Ling deliberated for a moment, then sent a voice transmission to the middle-aged Cultivator, "Fellow Daoist, I have something I don't understand and would like to ask you for guidance. I hope you won't hesitate to enlighten me."

The middle-aged Cultivator was checking the Flying Sword in his hand. Hearing this, he looked up at Su Ling, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes.

Noticing that Su Ling was also a lightning element Cultivator, although his spiritual power fluctuations were only at the Core Formation Mid-stage, they were exceptionally condensed, much more solid than those of ordinary Middle Stage Cultivators.

He then nodded and replied via voice transmission: "Fellow Daoist is too polite. If there's anything I can help with, feel free to ask."

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist."

Su Ling went straight to the point, "I've just finished my secluded meditation and am not quite clear on the current rules... Why can this Senior Brother Yan forcibly conscript us to participate in the battle? I remember that in the National War rules originally announced by the Sect, there was no mention of a forced conscription."

He clearly remembered that back then in the illusory rainbow flying cloud bell, the Spirit Transformation Cultivator of the Bitao Sect had explicitly stated.

Defense missions for resource points and fortresses were primarily based on voluntary participation. Points were allocated based on survival and contribution, and the entire process was monitored by the National War inspector to prevent corruption.

But the current forced conscription was clearly contrary to the original rules.

When the middle-aged Cultivator heard this, his eyes suddenly became a bit strange.

He sized Su Ling up for a few moments before tentatively transmitting: "Fellow Daoist... this seclusion of yours, I'm afraid it wasn't just a year or two? Looking at your situation, could it be that you've been in seclusion for nearly ten years?"

"Fellow Daoist has a Wisdom Eye; I have indeed just finished a ten-year seclusion."

Su Ling was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected the other party to actually guess it.

"So that's how it is, no wonder."

The middle-aged Cultivator showed a look of realization, and his tone became a bit more patient as he slowly explained via voice transmission, "Fellow Daoist may not know, but not long after you went into seclusion, the battle situation on the Nether Prison Plane changed completely..."

His voice carried a bit of the solemnity of memory: "At that time, the battles between the major factions escalated from sporadic conflicts to large-scale massacres. The competition for resource points reached a fever pitch, often involving chaotic battles between thousands of Cultivators. More importantly, more and more Cultivators were advancing to the Nascent Soul stage, and relying solely on voluntary participation could not hold the resource points at all."

"Later, each faction began to issue 'Cluster Missions'. Not only did they open permissions to Cultivators who had exchanged for large-scale war Sharp Weapons like the black armor flying boat, but they also explicitly stipulated: Cultivators holding such Sharp Weapons could forcibly conscript Cultivators in the city who had no active missions to participate in the defense or capture of resource points."

The middle-aged Cultivator paused and added: "In the previous small-scale National Wars, individual bravery might have been able to turn the tide of battle, but this time it's a seven-nation melee with a vast area and many people. Without commanders and mandatory rules, the faction would just be a heap of loose sand. Look at the Wuji Sect; they were already skilled in military formations and deployments, and from the beginning, they beat the other factions back step by step. If our Bitao Sect didn't have this rule, I'm afraid we would have lost half of our resource points long ago."

Waves of emotion instantly surged in Su Ling's heart.

He finally understood that this mandatory rule was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but a backup plan the Seven Sects had prepared long ago to deal with large-scale melees.

He subconsciously murmured under his breath: "In that case, could the Seven Sects be conducting a rehearsal for a Plane War?"

"Fellow Daoist noticed it too?"

A flash of approval appeared in the middle-aged Cultivator's eyes, and his tone carried a bit of a sigh and a bit of yearning, "Many direct Disciples of the Bitao Sect have speculated this way. It's said that the Seven Sects have discovered another new plane in the outer realms. It's estimated that in another few hundred years, once the Jinhun Realm is stabilized, a new battlefield will have to be opened."

The fact that the Nether Prison Plane belonged to the Jinhun Realm had already been widely rumored back in the illusory rainbow flying cloud bell space.

The Jinhun Realm had a total of five major planes, containing countless resources that brought unimaginable benefits to the Seven Sects.

But wanting to digest these resources was certainly not something that could be done overnight.

Even if a new plane was discovered, the Seven Sects probably wouldn't be able to spare the energy for a while.

"So that's it..."

Su Ling's eyes completely lit up, and all his previous doubts were resolved.

He finally cleared up the logic: the basic combat power for a Plane War is Nascent Soul Cultivators. This Nether Prison National War seems to be the Seven Sects competing for resources, but in reality, it is 'training troops'."

Millions of Core Formation Cultivators fighting here can both filter out top talents and catalyze the birth of thousands or even tens of thousands of Nascent Souls.

After another few hundred years of cultivation, these Core Formation Cultivators who survived the seven-nation melee will likely produce even more Nascent Souls.

With just one summons, they can directly form a legion with formidable combat power, which is far more cohesive and capable than 'wild Nascent Souls' recruited from the outside.

Having thought through this point, Su Ling looked at Yan Wushuang at the bow again with a bit more understanding in his heart.

This Nascent Soul Cultivator might be a 'commander-type talent' that the Bitao Sect was focusing on cultivating.

And this support battle in the Wuwang Bone Forest was both a defense of a resource point and another rehearsal of cluster combat power... The flying speed of the black armor mothership was comparable to a High Grade flying Magic Treasure.

In just a few hours, they had already arrived near the resource point located in the buffer zone.

From that middle-aged lightning cultivator named Xu Zijie, Su Ling finally had some understanding of the situation at this resource point.

Wuwang Bone Forest was a dead zone covering hundreds of miles.

Countless carcasses of Demon Species and Wandering Souls were buried deep underground.

The dense aura of death caused the ancient trees here to gradually transform into a type of strange tree with bone-like characteristics.

Deep within the bone forest were mineral veins, rich in Shadow Soul Crystal Mine that could accelerate the recovery of the Divine Soul.

But the eerie part was that for every hundred soul crystals mined, it would trigger a riot of Wandering Souls.

Countless Wandering Souls would condense into a 'soul tide' and assault the mine.

Bai Yifan was precisely the Nascent Soul Cultivator guarding this resource point.

And in this dead land of the bone forest, only one type of Demon Species called the Soul-Devouring Spider could move freely within it.

Its silk could imprison the Divine Soul, and its shrieks had the effect of shaking the soul.

Moreover, it would disguise itself as soul crystal clusters to hide its form; once a living creature appeared nearby, it would pounce in a surprise attack.

For Cultivators below the Core Formation Mid-stage, if they were entangled by its spider silk, it was almost a certain death.