Chapter 516: Frequency Modulation and Entry, Stealthy Action

Whoosh! Sizzle, sizzle~ The overcast rain fell unceasingly, blocked by an invisible membrane shell shrouding the ground. It was a deep, lightless night, far darker than the overcast rain clouds in the sky; it was as if a dark hole from the cosmos had descended, completely enveloping the location of the Research Assembly.

The rainwater was thus blocked and repelled, subsequently sliding and converging toward the edges of the membrane-shell black sphere.

The collapsed great canyon had turned into a magma lake that never stopped bleeding—a wound where the stars oozed pus—and at this moment, it was continuously gushing out boiling, faintly gray-tinged lava, which was likewise blocked outside the membrane-shell black sphere.

Water and fire intersected, evaporating constantly to form water vapor with a pungent odor and hidden resentment-demon Qi, which was spreading and seeping, attempting to pass through the membrane-shell black sphere. Unfortunately, that layer of membrane shell, which appeared neither thick nor hard, was exceptionally tough, blocking everything outside, including the little light remaining in this realm.

"What is this thing? How are we supposed to get in?"

Wu Rui looked at this scene, unable to help but worry.

"That is a formation, a very strong and also resolute formation. However, wanting to enter is not that difficult. Under the impact of such rain and molten steam, it has already begun to reveal the threads of its operation at an imperceptible level."

In Du En's gaze, gold faintly flowed. The principles of the secret art Fiery Eyes were being re-acquired, and combined with the principles related to the spirit-seeking techniques he had retrieved earlier, as well as the high-level discernment he already possessed, his observational ability was now sufficient to easily reach the depths and gain the possibility of entering the formation.

However.

"These rainwater and lava are a big problem, and there is also the resentment-demon Qi that is changing and rising... You transform into that prodigy's power and guide the lava away."

In an instant, he already had a plan.

Wu Rui looked at the interior of the membrane-shell black sphere, at the Research Assembly that was isolated from the inside and outside, where the actual figures could not be seen at all. On one hand, she was somewhat shaken and skeptical due to the various things she had seen and heard along the way; on the other hand, she sincerely hoped that the people inside could have survived.

She did not object, did not hesitate, and transformed directly, that blade already appearing in her hand.

She naturally knew what to do. Although it seemed to be sprouting changes now, and the whole thing seemed to resist the manipulation here, not as easy as it was a short while ago, in the end, she still managed to stop and push back the lava in the area before her.

She appeared incredibly strained, yet there was also a sense of ease; the two were intertwined, making it very awkward. Thus, she could not help but think that if that prodigy were still alive, there wouldn't be this situation of "virtue not matching the position"... Isn't this what Du En had always been brooding over? Only at this moment did she truly understand that he was actually just seeking an optimal solution for the situation. If there were a prodigy at his side to assist, although it would be inevitable to have opinions brought about by differences in philosophy, it would ultimately be one more person and one more bit of strength, especially in their current predicament where they were stretched thin.

Of course, he did not ignore others' feelings because of this.

She could not help but think so.

Because she always felt that the calm reliance beside her actually had the ability to forcibly intercept and retain the other party's remnant soul.

Du En did not pay attention to these little thoughts. At this moment, he simply raised his hand and swung his sword. The Three-True Divine Fire swept out, grand and imposing, blocking the overcast rain and pushing away the resentment-demon steam.

It looked very simple, not like what he had just said—that it was not a simple matter.

But in reality, it was indeed tricky and troublesome. Therefore, he did not directly and crudely break open the formation's black sphere to enter, or rather, he did not choose to drill a hole and charge in, which would leave an impact. Instead, he chose to perform a deep-level frequency modulation, aiming to harmonize at the same frequency in space and slip in without leaving a gap.

The stable recovery of his own primordial spirit allowed this basic ability of spatial manipulation to also achieve a relatively obvious recovery.

At the same time, as his strength and talent continued to improve, this basic ability could now touch the deep-level space; it was just lacking the boost of a higher realm to go deeper.

Therefore, by performing frequency modulation at this moment, he immediately captured a type of feedback from the formation before him.

Resistance, resistance to something invisible.

Besides the obvious overcast rain, lava, and water vapor, there were actually other invisible things! This was also the reason why Du En felt it was not that simple.

So what he had to do next was very simple: use great magic power to remove that as well.

He raised his hand and grabbed at thin air.

Rip...

A strange tearing sound rang out. One could see his body becoming flickering and unstable again. The invisible tentacles clinging to this formation black sphere appeared exceptionally tenacious, and a small portion had even seeped inside.

But in the end, it was still torn open by Du En.

Performing the frequency modulation again in this way, this section of the formation black sphere no longer had any resistance.

He placed a hand on Wu Rui, and the two, along with the boat-shield, slipped inside instantly and vanished.

The next moment, the tangible and intangible things came back again, lashing and biting violently. There seemed to be some angry shrieks faintly, and a type of malice was clearly rising, soon to overflow to the surface.

The two had already entered the location of the Research Assembly. The boat-shield turned into a ring-shield, radiating spiritual light, and combined with the soft light naturally emitted by Du En's primordial spirit, they were able to see the scene in the vicinity.

According to the old mage's memory, the Research Assembly was built on an ancient ruin. Du En could tell at a glance that it must have been a camp where the Immortal Sect once stationed troops. It stretched across mountains and plains, and the scale was not small. The Research Assembly had repaired a small portion of the buildings, but most were still ruins, which could even be used directly as objects for their research.

However, at this very moment, the interior of this Research Assembly was not as it was in the old mage's memory. It was broken as a whole, piece by piece, floating in the air and bobbing unceasingly, just like many drowning corpses.

One could clearly see human figures floating among them. The one closest to the two seemed to have sensed them, sensed Wu Rui's presence, and thus suddenly turned its head, revealing that ferocious, fallen face covered in straw-like tumors.

Although the formation was activated, it had fallen in the end.

Du En had long anticipated this, because invisible tentacles had been drawn here to seep in. Although the formation was exquisite and powerful, it was, after all, only at the level of a Fourth-Rank Treasure Formation and could not exempt or block that kind of corruption of evil transformation.

Therefore, the Research Assembly was the same as other places; all personnel had fallen.

Compared to other places, the more troublesome point was that these people were all immortal cultivators! Even if most were just ordinary people or outstanding figures, after falling, they would be forcibly boosted to the limit. In short, Foundation Establishment cultivators were everywhere.

Du En's recovery was indeed on the right track and had shown obvious improvement, but he could not withstand being besieged by a group of Foundation Establishment stage beings now, not to mention that there were actually quite a few geniuses within the Research Assembly.

For example, the one who turned its head to look now—as its fallen magic power began to flow, the surroundings seemed to boil. The ominous scorching red overwhelmed the soft spiritual light, declaring dangerous glare.

Perhaps it was not as good as the old mage, but it was also a tricky existence, and its strength was definitely at the Golden Core stage. Facing it alone now, Du En would have to be cautious and serious.

The most critical thing was that there were many demons! At this very moment, other resentment-demons further away noticed them and began to break away from their originally stable floating, starting to move as if waking from hibernation.

"Earth Escape."

Du En calmly chose to retreat, directly putting away the shield and shrinking his form into the building stratum he was stepping on.

Wu Rui also felt her scalp tingle. Without the slightest delay, she decisively transformed using her unique magic power, manifesting the old mage's power to obtain his most proficient Earth Escape technique, and hurriedly followed him down. This move was very useful; the mage resentment-demons that were originally reviving immediately began to stop their activities and slowly returned to slumber.

"Sure enough, that formation is less of a protection and concealment, and more of a sealing and imprisonment, locking most of the fallen immortal cultivators in the Qing Kingdom here to prevent them from going out to wreak havoc."

Du En was not surprised by this.

At the same time, if they were really left to move about freely and pursue their own obsessions, it would indeed cause a huge impact, whether on their previous actions or their subsequent ones.

"That Assembly Head..."

Wu Rui listened with a complex expression. After all, the series of events starting from the old warrior seemed to have been caused by that Research Assembly leader who had deviated from their original intention, appearing like a hostile and wicked person. Yet, it was clear that when the incident occurred, the other party decisively carried out the sealing and imprisonment, avoiding the deterioration of the situation.

Moreover, her demeanor when declaring the establishment did not seem like that of a despicable person, only making one involuntarily look forward to the vision she depicted.

"Do not look at a person one-sidedly or superficially. Now, it is time to talk about the action plan for what comes next." Du En only mentioned it briefly, then spoke of the main business, "Clearly, as long as we avoid the resentment-demons here with Earth Escape, they will not move. At the same time, for some reason, they all seem to have left the buildings. In short, based on the trickiness of the fallen immortal cultivators, I believe we should not pursue perfection now."

In short, only purify the key figures; leave the others here for now.

If the ability to purify were on him, it would be nothing, but since it was on Wu Rui, her shortcomings meant they could only make trade-offs now.

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If it were the previous her, she would definitely have had an opinion, or rather, she would have wanted to forcibly hold on, purifying as many as she could.

But as for now, how should one put it, there was a sense of dejection and disappointment, so they only nodded silently, signaling their approval.

"Since the grand strategy has been decided, the supplementation of details can now begin."

"The most valuable target in the Dharma Research Association is clearly that Association Head, so let's just strike directly at the heart; we need to race against time now. However, to defeat an opponent who had Golden Core Perfection cultivation while alive and might now possess Soul Formation power, we need to make preparations first and be mentally prepared to run if we can't win."

"Run if we can't win?"

"Do you think I would fight to the death?"

"Aren't you someone who would fight to the death?"

"When it's time to run, one must naturally run, unless one cannot run or does not want to run."

"Isn't that just fighting to the death?"

Wu Rui looked at him, her voice sounding sharp at this moment, which served to slightly alleviate the gloom.

She had originally thought there would still be survivors inside...

"In any case, we will first go to the Dharma Research Association's Dharma Artifact Vault and the Scripture Repository. If possible, we must also visit the places where medicinal pills, talismans, and spirit stones are stored, though I don't think that Association Head will give us that much time to prepare at our leisure."

"The Scripture Repository is understandable, but why is the Dharma Artifact Vault placed first?"

The small interlude just now was tacitly skipped over; as they were already moving, Wu Rui appeared somewhat curious about this.

It was not that she failed to recognize the utility of dharma artifacts and weapons, but in Du En's description, that Association Head likely possessed Soul Formation power, placing them in the same broad tier as he was at his peak.

And how should one describe the Dharma Research Association previously? They had dharma artifacts, but most were of the first or second grade; those of the third grade, corresponding to the Golden Core stage, were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Now, facing a target with Soul Formation power, they seemed somewhat insignificant.

"You will know when the time comes; if there are enough of them, I can even layer a defense on you."

"Oh!"

Wu Rui immediately became somewhat expectant.

Although she soon regretted her naivety.

The two fled through the floating building blocks, confirming that the Grudge Demons were all outside the buildings. However, they still chose to blink whenever possible; after blinking through one block, they would dive out and jump into another, causing the Grudge Demons floating outside the buildings to lose track of them before they could even react.

The operation unfolded efficiently amidst the silence. Very quickly, relying on the two arts of Spirit Seeking and Artifact Refining, Du En was the first to find the Dharma Research Association's Dharma Artifact Vault.

Various dharma artifacts floated within the storeroom, and many more were sealed away.

"Eh? Why do the ones flying out look better? Clearly, the ones that were properly put away should be more precious."

"Because dharma artifacts are also undergoing corruption and have gained a certain degree of advancement. As for these that were put away, their restrictions were eroded first, unexpectedly becoming much more reliable, and then, due to the mutual repulsion of similar natures, they retained their original appearance."

Within the Dharma Research Association, perhaps because they were suffering from invisible infection, grudge energy and demonic energy were no longer the primary manifestations, so this phenomenon of spiritual corruption and tier-advancement appeared relatively prominent and pure.

Du En carefully observed these diverse samples, then shattered the restrictions to take out the dharma artifacts inside, watching them undergo slow and stable changes, and immediately became lost in thought.

The observation was finished quickly, and they had to hurry to arm themselves to avoid being ambushed by that Association Head.

And so, in the light of the divine fire, Wu Rui's small face quickly fell.

Because Du En, based on her situation, melted down some dharma artifacts and refined a puppet for her.

That's right, not the armor or clothing she had imagined, but an auxiliary outer shell, a puppet capable of autonomous reaction.

"Your mobility in normal situations, as well as your experiential reactions during combat, are truly poor. Previously, I had the spare capacity to look after you, so it didn't matter, but from here on out, whether it is the Border Great Wall or other places, I fear even I might suffer defeat. It is necessary to strengthen your foundation so you don't fail to react in various situations."

Du En spoke with sound reasons, and Wu Rui was convinced, but the key was.

"Why does it look so, so, strange?"

She had wanted to say ugly, but looking closely, it actually had quite a bit of aesthetic appeal, fully displaying Du En's superb craftsmanship.

However, as she wore this puppet now, she looked like a square, strange duck, especially when it manifested strange feathers, which directly elevated the level of weirdness and ugliness to the realm of a colorful, big-headed ostrich.

(End of chapter)