Wanxi Rebirth - Chapter 90

From Yue Tingxi’s perspective, the place she was in resembled a massive labyrinth.

However, this labyrinth only had its initial passageway dark and narrow. Once she stepped out of the thick, silver-white door opened by the World Consciousness, her field of vision immediately widened considerably.

Even so, although there were no soldiers or guards stationed around, the perfectly flat, black walls made her uneasy—she felt as if some kind of surveillance device was hidden in the shadows, observing their every move.

According to the terminology in the 7364 System’s intelligence, this should be called “monitoring,” right?

The thought had barely formed in Yue Tingxi’s mind when her spiritual senses suddenly detected something unusual—not a fluctuation of spiritual power, but some incomprehensible force rapidly taking shape.

What was that thing called…?

Although she couldn’t recall the name, her instincts immediately prompted her to raise a barrier.

In the next instant, barely a moment later, water splashed from her aquatic energy barrier.

From the walls, rows of black holes “spun wildly, tut-tut-tut,” and countless metallic pebbles clinked to the ground.

It was like a sudden downpour. But as soon as Yue Tingxi came into contact with them, she realized that each of these metal pebbles contained immense energy, constantly consuming the spiritual power that made up her barrier.

Could this be energy comparable to a cultivator’s spiritual power?

Curious yet cautious, Yue Tingxi focused on maintaining the barrier while protecting the attacks of those around her.

—By the time she instinctively began to defend, Qin Suoliu, Lin Fengqing, and Qiongqi had already launched their attacks.

One end of Qin Suoliu’s fiery staff transformed into a sharp point, turning the entire weapon into a throwable spear.

She threw it with all her strength; the fiery spear accurately struck the center of a black hole and continued spinning through it.

After several breaths, all the black holes in sight stopped shooting out metal pebbles. Some were shattered outright, while others were neatly sliced by the high-speed spinning spear.

Yue Tingxi finally remembered what these things were called, but it no longer mattered. The noise subsided, and now the mechanisms and guns lay in pieces throughout the corridor.

Lin Fengqing also cooperated with Qiongqi’s wood-element magic, helping her dismantle the walls.

Frantically growing vines rooted themselves within the walls, violently tearing apart any mechanisms, traps, or surveillance that might threaten them or observe them.

“Move!” Qiongqi charged forward first, accompanied by Lin Fengqing’s three protective talismans.

She knew very well that this room was only the beginning. If the enemy’s strength were limited to this level, the World Consciousness wouldn’t have needed to pull her along.

Before long, they entered a narrower corridor. This time, the walls came alive, and countless red beams suddenly shot out from the otherwise unseen holes.

The exploring vines were instantly cut by the red beams. However, this also allowed them to understand the attack’s principle.

“‘Shield’ us,” Qin Suoliu immediately instructed the Gray Moth.

Silver-gray light points quickly attached to each of them, making them conceptually cease to exist.

The red beams vanished, but they still quickened their pace to pass through the corridor.

Considering the walls weren’t living beings, after they left the passage, Qiongqi casually threw a seed inside.

They caught up to Xisheng, who was flying in the air, surrounded by more than ten mission operatives dressed entirely in tight black suits.

[It seems the core has already realized I’ve arrived; otherwise, these operatives wouldn’t have revealed themselves to fight.]

the 7364 System said.

Yue Tingxi gripped her black crane whip, ready to jump into the air to help, but Qin Suoliu stopped her.

“Let’s continue along the route,” she said.

“Yes! Leave this to us!”

The smiling female voice that had sounded during the shooting star scene outside the illusionary viewport now accompanied a faint orange figure appearing before them.

“Just move forward!”

As the orange figure pointed toward the next area, two other beams of light flew in from different passages.

Just like the operatives, these people or spirits who responded to Xisheng’s call hid their true forms and weapons.

Yue Tingxi thought this method was effective. Following the route provided by the 7364 System toward the core, she urgently discussed a strategy with the companions beside her.

When they smashed through a tightly closed door and entered a room labeled “Mission Hall,” all their weapons were invisible, and thanks to Gray Moth’s shielding magic, they themselves had become “transparent” and unseeable.

However, this hall, as large as the practice grounds of ten immortal sects, was completely empty of operatives.

[Detected hidden mission tools originating from the core: 849.]

[Avoid contact with them while proceeding. Any interaction with the World Consciousness’ energy will allow the core to deduce measures to counter the World Consciousness!]

“Are these tools listed in the information you shared with us?” Qin Suoliu asked.

Before the 7364 System could respond, Qiongqi raised a wave of black-red resentment energy.

Over thousands of years, disasters and human-caused catastrophes in the mortal world had gathered immense resentment. Resentment itself represented a facet of humanity.

Using her ghostly techniques, Qiongqi shaped the resentment into countless humanoid forms, layering causality rules to direct them toward the hidden mission tools.

To their astonishment, once the humanoid resentment temporarily settled, it formed a wall blocking their path—only a few stray resentments remained elsewhere.

This meant the mission tools would be actively attracted to humans or spirits.

“Won’t this allow the core to learn your abilities?” Yue Tingxi asked cautiously.

“It won’t die when they try to calculate it. Whatever,” Qiongqi replied indifferently. “Thousands of years of resentment is thousands of years of causality. Be it causality or laws, it’s all accumulated over history.”

“To calculate all this causality in detail, a cultivator would need the level to create a complete world.”

Although she spoke lightly, Qiongqi remained vigilant. Her spiritual senses monitored every humanoid resentment, ensuring no harmful changes occurred in the causality upon contact with the tools.

The hall was filled with mission tools, making instant transport spells risky.

Thus, they could only wait for the resentment’s positions to stabilize.

To speed things up, Yue Tingxi tried forming a golden throwing knife with the power of the Laws.

“How do you plan to handle invisible tools with the Laws?” Qiongqi asked with interest.

“I’ll try,” Yue Tingxi replied.

She had the Gray Moth inject all the tool data shared by the 7364 System into the golden knife, then levitated it and released her spiritual power’s control.

Moments later, the knife floated toward a cluster of resentment and, at speeds imperceptible to the naked eye, sliced through both the tool and the resentment.

Since the resentment was linked to its own causality, Yue Tingxi had severed the causality at its root through the Laws.

Qiongqi clicked her tongue in surprise.

“That bastard is probably trying to clear resentment the original world couldn’t handle,” she muttered.

Yue Tingxi, however, couldn’t continue.

Although the resentment’s causality was severed, she absorbed the full memory tied to it upon contact with the Law blade. Fortunately, she had previously taken all the Soul-Purifying Pills to examine the intruder’s memories, so the pills swiftly sealed the memories in her mind.

“…No, we can only let your resentment reveal the tools and avoid them,” Yue Tingxi said, lowering the golden knife. “Otherwise, every cut forces me to absorb a memory.”

She didn’t know how to explain the side effect in detail, but Qiongqi understood immediately and cursed the World Consciousness under her breath. Raising her fist, she fixed the remaining humanoid resentment, trapping the mission tools in place.

Although it seemed easy, even the highest-level cultivator among them, Qiongqi, coughed up blood, her breath unstable.

“These things will probably be drawn to living beings. I don’t know what’s ahead. You three go, I’ll hold these off.”

Yue Tingxi, Qin Suoliu, and Lin Fengqing immediately quickened their pace, bypassing the wall of resentment.

The route to the core remained unchanged, but for some reason, they remained alert while passing four corridors and three identical rooms without encountering any attacks or beings.

“This feels suspicious. I don’t know what trap this is,” Lin Fengqing said telepathically. “But the 7364 System hasn’t indicated any danger.”

“7364, what’s ahead?” Yue Tingxi asked.

[…It’s a resting area for operatives and the system, similar to your sleeping quarters.]

After a brief hesitation, the 7364 System answered.

“What does this mean?” Yue Tingxi asked. “Are they trying to let us relax and then ‘invite us into the trap’ when we try to sway the operatives and system?”

[Speculation: one, trap; two, play the victim; three, the core expects you to kill innocents, triggering some fatal rule.]

“Whether it’s a trap or not, we must continue,” Qin Suoliu said, looking forward. “The route shows we go through this building, then take an elevator mechanism to the top—the core is ‘waiting’ there for us.”

She deliberately used the word “waiting,” as if the core were calmly anticipating their arrival.

“But can the three of us really confront such a confident core?” Lin Fengqing frowned. “Even if it’s an empty city ruse, it must have some confidence. Should we wait for the World Consciousness and reinforcements before proceeding?”

If they waited, it was still not too late to stop.

Yue Tingxi recalled what the World Consciousness said to all allies before they reached the Transcription Bureau:

—“Everyone, use your trump cards! If we lose this battle, the Transcription Bureau may strengthen its defenses or escape, and we’ll lose the best chance!”

Trump cards… she had them.

“The World Consciousness and reinforcements are holding off the operatives, Qiongqi is handling nearly nine hundred mission tools. Waiting will only give the core time to analyze our strength. We must act quickly!”

Sighing, Yue Tingxi whispered an apology to Qin Suoliu. With a thought, the divine bead originally stored in her inner chamber disappeared instantly.

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