Chapter 1029: The Foundation of the Heavenly Court

In the pillar of light, divine light flickered on the surface of the seven-colored crystal brain, like rippling water.

Its form was exactly the same as Lao Tie's crystal brain, but Lao Tie's crystal brain was only the size of a fist, while this crystal brain before him in the pillar of light was nearly three hundred zhang in size.

This was a crystal brain the size of a mountain peak.

Moreover, when this crystal brain flashed with intense divine light, streams of pure, massive soul power continuously spread from within him, the void trembled, the air churned, and in the huge cavern a low 'hum' sound suddenly arose.

The middle-aged man standing before the pillar of light also swayed slightly, terrifying soul wave after wave slammed into his body; he exerted all his strength, barely managing to steady himself.

The images released from the crystal ball changed rapidly.

Under Ji Ting's command, the Thunder God Vessel appeared.

Then, hundreds of thousands of Giant God Soldiers simultaneously focused fire; a thin red light sliced from the bow of the Thunder God Vessel all the way to the stern, precisely splitting the vessel in two.

"Combat God Soldiers." A gentle voice echoed in the cavern.

"Combat God Soldiers?" the middle-aged man looked at the crystal brain.

"Well, we are all Giant God Soldiers... but they are born solely for combat, the Combat God Soldiers; whereas I am devoted to preserving all kinds of knowledge, researching various secrets and arcane arts, a Scholar God Soldier."

The middle-aged man asked curiously: "Is there, any difference?"

The crystal brain gave a soft 'hum': "Of course there is a difference. Numbers, size, combat strength, and the tasks they bear differ, so our functions differ greatly."

After a pause, the crystal brain sincerely lamented: "Of course, this is not fundamental; Combat God Soldiers have the possibility of 'Chaos Transformation'; whereas we Scholar God Soldiers, with our massive size, huge consumption, and innate functions, are destined to forever retain this primitive form."

"Chaos Transformation?" the middle-aged man grew ever more curious: "You have never told me about this."

The crystal brain let out a slightly annoyed cold snort: "For something I can never possess, and something utterly worthless to you, is there any need to tell you? It's a waste of time, a waste of life... well, a waste of saliva."

The middle-aged man rubbed his nose, gave a dry laugh: "You don't even have saliva."

'Boom!'

A terrifying soul power burst erupted, an invisible immense force blasted the middle-aged man dozens of li away; he crashed headfirst onto the smooth silver-white metal floor, sliding far across the spotless floor.

The middle-aged man rose with a dry laugh and returned to the pillar of light.

"Then, what exactly is Chaos Transformation? It sounds very mysterious?" the middle-aged man asked seriously.

After a long silence, the crystal brain flickered with agitated divine light over its whole body, and it said dryly: "Chaos Transformation is a kind of evolution, a kind of creation... it gives Giant God Soldiers flesh and blood bodies, lets them generate true souls, transforming them from artificial constructs into genuine living beings of flesh and blood."

He let out a heavy sigh; the lament shook the entire cavern, making it sway.

The crystal brain's emotion clearly affected the countless metal spiders in the cavern; their movements slowed at once, each repeatedly emitting faint 'chik-chik' and 'ying-ying' sounds from their swollen bellies.

"We can only be said to possess artificial intelligence... our innate deficiencies are great, great." The crystal brain said helplessly: "To become true flesh-and-blood life is what we Giant God Soldiers dream of."

"But only Combat God Soldiers have the chance for Chaos Transformation; we Scholar God Soldiers are innately incapable of it."

The middle-aged man continued his curious inquiry: "Why can't it be done? With your wisdom, with the knowledge you possess..."

"To undergo Chaos Transformation, you must first possess a core brain with the potential for Chaos Transformation." The crystal brain said slowly: "This power can be understood as an innate creative force, requiring extremely rare and exceedingly scarce materials."

"Among countless Giant God Soldiers, those who obtain such a core brain by chance are perhaps one in ten trillion." Strands of divine light condensed in the air into a great hand; this divine-light hand extended its index finger and pointed at the huge crystal brain.

"Ordinary Giant God Soldiers have a core brain only fist-sized, needing only a speck of creative material." The crystal brain sneered: "But look at me, look at me—I have such a huge core brain; calculate how much material I would need."

"Cost, function, value ratio." The crystal brain snorted coldly: "Haven't I taught you these?"

The middle-aged man laughed embarrassedly.

The crystal brain stared blankly, its voice turning a bit dry: "Well, indeed I haven't taught you... this isn't my fault, nor am I unable; it's that you're too stupid, you haven't learned... surely that's it, you're just too stupid."

The middle-aged man spread his hands: "Whatever you say goes... these Giant God Soldiers, what do you see?"

The crystal brain let out a faint sigh: "I never expected that an old comrade from that era would still survive to this day... I don't even know his name, his affiliation, nor his current state."

The huge crystal brain swayed slightly, he murmured lowly: "No, no... this force called Wuguo, their Giant God Soldiers are obviously a scaled-up, regularized legion."

"That bunch of brute Combat God Soldiers—they have no production capacity... meaning they've seized... a logistics supply base?" The crystal brain muttered: "What good luck."

The middle-aged man's pupils contracted slightly; his hands clasped behind his back clenched tightly, then slowly relaxed.

The crystal brain murmured softly: "A scaled-up legion of Giant God Soldiers—if they have sufficient resources, they can almost infinitely proliferate."

"Infinite proliferation, do you understand?" The crystal brain murmured: "While the 'Fengshen Remnant' you control can hold only a limited number of human primordial spirits, the total amount of Heavenly Venerables, Heavenly Kings, Heavenly Lords, Heavenly Generals, and Heavenly Soldiers is limited."

"Both the Giant God Soldier legion and your Heavenly Court forces can endlessly resurrect, but the potential of the Giant God Soldier legion is greater."

"They know no fear, feel no pain, shrink from no sacrifice; once they accept an order, they will spare no cost, tirelessly strive to fulfill it. They are the finest warriors in the world, the most resolute, the most tenacious."

"But your Heavenly Court troops, even if they possess infinite resurrection power, are still essentially human... and human emotions are complex and changeable; they will feel fear, despair, hysteria, and may do some inexplicable crazy things."

"Obedience, coordination, precision in carrying out orders—they fall far short of the Giant God Soldiers."

The crystal brain said solemnly: "So, do not make them enemies... moreover, looking at this battle's progress, it was Ji Ming who launched a surprise attack on them. It was the people of the Heavenly Court who erred; let this matter end here."

The middle-aged man replied respectfully: "Yes, Teacher."

In the massive metal object nearest the pillar of light, a buzzing sound arose, then a 'pop'—a crystal slab two feet long, six inches wide, and one inch thick shot out.

A metal spider leapt up, its sharp claws steadied the crystal slab, then quickly crawled to the middle-aged man's front.

"Take this and have someone send it to Wuguo." The crystal brain said solemnly: "In their legion, only the most ordinary Combat God Soldier warriors exist, lacking matching large-scale ordnance—this is unreasonable."

"Could that fellow have forgotten some data?" The crystal brain chuckled hehehe: "It's quite possible; these fellows fighting on the front lines could easily have their brains damaged."

"However, it's fine; send these data to them. Since they have a supply base, they will surely be able to replicate, according to the data I gave them, those great weapons developed for them in the Primeval Era."

The middle-aged man respectfully received the crystal slab and placed it into his sleeve.

"Then, Teacher, I will coexist peacefully with them." The middle-aged man said solemnly: "The Heavenly Court has already mobilized; I expect those old ladies on Nüwa Island won't ignore it—I must go deal with them."

The crystal brain said indifferently: "Go, go... only petty people and women are hard to get along with... dealing with women, especially old women... is terrifying, terrifying, this is the most terrifying thing in the world."

"It's hard on you... go, go, remember, absolutely must not leak my existence; no one must ever reveal my existence."

The crystal brain said lowly: "You know, the meaning of my existence..."

The middle-aged man bowed deeply to the crystal brain, then his form flickered and he left the cavern.

Only the crystal ball brought by the middle-aged man remained, silently hovering before the crystal brain.

The image in the light curtain suddenly froze; the Giant God Soldier figure in the picture rapidly zoomed out, finally revealing the position over his heart—a palm-sized complex emblem outlined in dark lines.

The crystal brain burst with waves of blinding divine light; in the cavern, countless metal spiders of all sizes simultaneously lit up their scarlet ocular organs.

They all raised their two forelimbs and emitted a buzzing cry.

"White Tiger Army... Absolute Death Battalion... are about to... Fury Asura!"

A rich, powerful voice, vastly different from the usual gentle tone, echoed through the cavern.

"Sure enough, foolish people have foolish luck? You, this guy demoted to a Bianque-type medic..."

"According to the Creator's highest order... Fury Asura, as the current theater's supreme commander... Zhuge Kongming, shall accept jurisdiction and serve as assistance."

"Now, begin behavioral pattern analysis of Ji Bai Jie."

"Based on Ji Bai Jie's background, childhood experiences, adolescent growth, family relations, clan relations, social relations... establish a behavioral pattern model..."

Sinister eerie light flickered rapidly within the cavern.

After the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, Zhuge Kongming returned to that gentle tone: "Ji Bai Jie, Heavenly Court Grand Heavenly Sovereign, scouting the Fury Asura supply base, probability of sending troops to loot is ninety-five percent; probability of becoming enemies with Wuguo is ninety-nine percent... suggestion..."

After a quarter hour, a cold, stern, emotionless voice sounded in the cavern: "Suggestion: exterminate."

After another burst of sinister eerie light, a rich, powerful voice sounded: "Zhuge Kongming controls military force and cannot threaten Ji Bai Jie."

After a while, the gentle voice sounded: "Without exposing oneself, while ensuring Zhuge Kongming's safety, the probability of using external force to exterminate Ji Bai Jie..."

The sinister eerie light flickered again, its frequency more than a hundred times greater than before.

"Zero!"

"The probability is zero."

"Wa Island has already been infected by extraterrestrial demons; among the great matriarchs, there is an extremely high probability that an individual has been brainwashed and subjugated by extraterrestrial demons."

"Wa Island, unreliable."

"Humans, very dangerous."

"Activate the backup backdoor procedure, begin cracking the backdoor of the Fengshen Fragment... estimated time..."

The middle-aged man Ji Bai Jie, hands behind his back, with steps slightly heavy, slowly walked back along the passageway to the majestic hall on the mountain peak.

The passageway behind him silently vanished; Ji Bai Jie, hands behind his back, stood before the radiant throne inside the hall, dazed for a moment.

After a long, long while, Ji Bai Jie finally let out a cold laugh.

"What, God Soldier troops? Study God Soldier troops? Old monster, how much more are you hiding from me?"

"Am I too stupid? Can't I learn your stuff? Is it that you deliberately conceal it, that you intentionally hide it... I, Ji Bai Jie, possess heaven-defying talent, never forget what I see—what could there be that I cannot learn? Is it that you don't teach, that you fear I'll surpass you, so you intentionally refuse to teach me?"

"Hmph, Wuguo?"

"Hmph, Giant God Soldier Legion?"

"Hmph, heretical demons... how did Wuguo's exalted rank come about? Heretical demons, they must be heretical demons... old monster, your heart has gone astray; they are heretical demons, you don't help me exterminate them, but instead..."

"Ha, ha, ha!"

He took out the crystal chunk Zhuge Kongming had given him from his sleeve, Ji Bai Jie weighed it in his hand, narrowed his eyes, and with a light grip of his right hand, crushed it to powder.

"Let them have more powerful armaments?"

"Let them have armaments from the primordial mythic era that can easily slaughter deities?"

"After letting them have these armaments, to then attack my Heavenly Court's great army? Old monster, your heart is also too black."

He clapped his hands loudly and roared: "Come, come! Summon the Nine Heavenly Kings, summon the Thirty-Three Heavenly Great Sovereigns, summon the true gods of the Five Mountains, Five Peaks, Four Seas, and Eight Wastelands—let them all come!"

A golden bell rang, shaking the mountains into thunderous roar.

Streams of light, swift as lightning, rapidly rushed into the hall, revealing one after another of extraordinarily beautiful men and women whose auras were immensely powerful and astonishing.

Ji Bai Jie sat upright on the throne, expressionlessly looking down upon the various departments of the Heavenly Court that flew into the hall.

After a full hour, when all the personnel of the Heavenly Court's departments had arrived, Ji Bai Jie then firmly patted the back of his head, a purple qi shot up from the top of his head, and a seven-colored crystal monument slowly rose from the purple qi.

The square crystal monument, ten thousand zhang high, released immense divine authority; through its transparent body, one could see inside a massive flagpole, from which hung a huge yellow placard that dangled down for thirty-six hundred zhang.

On the yellow placard, countless tiny golden characters, as small as sesame seeds, continuously sputtered and flashed.

Looking closely, those golden characters were all personal names.

Inside the hall, the heads of each Heavenly Court department simultaneously changed expression, their eyes revealing strange light, greedy and fearful as they gazed at the divine monument and at the placard upon it.

"The Heavenly Court's true gods still have a ninety percent vacancy." Ji Bai Jie said slowly: "Ladies and gentlemen, within three months I will fill the full quota of the Heavenly Court's departments."

"Everyone, once a name appears on the Fengshen List, there is no longer a limit to one's yang lifespan, no suffering from reincarnation... this is a tremendous favor... you may return to your respective departments and clans, contact those you have selected over the years."