Chapter 346: Undercurrent Upgrade

False Song, Bian Liang, deep within the former imperial city.

This place has been remodeled beyond recognition; the carved beams and painted rafters of the former halls are now covered with a cold, hard, black substance resembling some creature's exoskeleton.

The air is filled with a strong, strange odor mixing blood and metallic rust, and an omnipresent low-frequency hum that presses on people's eardrums and minds.

At the center of the secret chamber, the vague dark outline of the Iron Crow Army's master now appears even more thin and unstable.

Forcibly pushing forward with the twisted pact of the mirror-image Khitan did not bring the expected recovery of Fortune Momentum.

The increasingly mighty and solid Fortune Momentum from the Great Chen side, like warm sunlight continually scorching the gloom, makes his already damaged foundation recover extremely slowly.

"Shadow Corrosion... effect is far below calculation."

His (its) voice is no longer simply cold, but mixed with a suppressed, almost like countless tiny metal scraps scraping, hoarse tone.

"The Great Chen's Fortune Momentum field... its degree of cohesion exceeds what a 'variable' should have."

"Those ants... actually developed runes that interfere with the 'Shadow Corrosion' wave..."

Inside the secret chamber there is no other figure; only occasional dark blue light flowing like blood vessels on the walls, illuminating his twisted, wavering shadow.

Information fragments tumble and recombine within his core.

"Node maintenance... failed."

"Historical inertia... suffering continuous offset impact."

"Cleanup priority... raised to the highest sequence."

An indescribable anger, mixed with a kind of procedural logic's 'agitation' after being severely challenged, spreads through the secret chamber.

"Shadow Corrosion targets the spirit, erodes will, and was supposed to undermine the Great Chen's cohesion from within."

But Chen Wen's keen perception of Fortune Momentum, Zhao Lao Nian's unexpected technical breakthrough, and the resilience shown by Great Chen officials under the Heart-Guarding Talisman and continuous loyalty education have greatly reduced the effectiveness of this stage's 'cleanup'.

We can no longer rely on this slow, indirect mental infiltration.

We must employ more direct, more destructive means, to destroy the Great Chen's foundation at the material level, forcing its Fortune Momentum to collapse.

"Activate... cleanup protocol phase two."

The Iron Crow Army master's intent, like an intangible command, penetrates the secret chamber's isolation and reaches a deeper 'interface' attached to this space.

"Protocol confirmed: Phase Two — 'Bone Corrosion'."

A colder, lifeless feedback information flow surges back.

"Target: material world's basic structure."

"Method: high-concentration dark energy sedimentation, inducing ley line inertization, increasing material entropy rate."

"Manifestation: land loses vitality, water sources polluted, life force drains."

"Purpose: fundamentally undermine its survival and production base, create panic, provoke internal strife, greatly consume its Fortune Momentum reserves."

"Execute."

There is no earth-shaking spectacle.

Only an intangible, yet deeper and more vicious dark energy, is silently guided and infused.

This power does not directly attack the Great Chen's people or cities, but like ink dropped into clear water, begins to permeate and sink into the mountains, rivers, and deep lands within the Great Chen-controlled area.

It avoids the capital Bian Liang where Fortune Momentum is strongest and a few core regions, mainly targeting relatively remote prefectures and counties with weaker Fortune Momentum protection, especially agricultural production areas.

This is a 'drain the pond to catch the fish' aimed at the 'living environment'.

"Chen Wen... you can block the spirit's whisper, but can you block the earth's withering, the river's pollution?"

"Your people, in hunger and panic, can they still remain loyal to you?"

"Your Fortune Momentum, under continuous natural and man-made disasters consumption, how long can it still support?"

The Iron Crow Army master's whisper echoes in the secret chamber, carrying a kind of procedural cruelty and anticipation.

His (its) core logic holds that as long as the material foundation is destroyed, social order will inevitably collapse, and the so-called people's cohesion and dynastic Fortune Momentum will also disintegrate in a chain reaction.

This is more sinister and more fundamental than a mere military assault.

Almost simultaneously with the activation of 'Bone Corrosion'.

Great Chen, Bei Jing, a village south of Xingzhou.

Old farmer Li Lao San, as usual, shouldering his hoe at dawn, came to the edge of his own field.

The morning mist had not yet fully dissipated; the wheat seedlings in the field should have been a lush green expanse, harboring the hope of grain filling.

However, as he approached, he abruptly stopped, rubbed his eyes, hardly believing what he saw.

The formerly fertile field before him had changed color to an unhealthy, ashen pallor.

He squatted down and grabbed a handful of soil.

The feel in his hand was no longer the familiar soft and moist, but rather a strange compactness and sluggishness.

When he squeezed hard, it could not form a clump, crumbling into dry powder-like granules.

"What... what is going on?" Li Lao San's heart sank, an ominous premonition enveloping him.

He hurriedly ran to the small stream beside the field, wanting to check the water source.

He saw that the originally clear stream now, in the crevices of the bankside rocks and withered leaves, had a layer of extremely fine foam, like a living thing slowly wriggling and flashing an eerie pale blue sheen.

He cupped a handful of water, brought it to his nose to smell, and a faint odor, like a mix of iron rust and decaying matter, entered his nostrils.

"Water... the water is not right either!"

He staggered back a few steps, dazed and looking around.

Not far away, several other fields also showed similar conditions.

The once vibrant fields seemed to have had their vitality drained overnight, filling with a lifeless atmosphere.

Neighbors who rose early to work also noticed the abnormality, and panicked shouts began to echo in the thin morning mist.

"Ground! The ground has hardened!"

"Water! There's blue foam in the water!"

"Wheat sprouts... the wheat sprouts have wilted!"

Panic, like an invisible plague, quickly spread throughout this tiny village.

The news was sent by the village head on a hurried horse to the prefecture.

And this was merely one of several locations within Great Chen where similar abnormality reports had almost simultaneously appeared.

Bian Liang, the imperial palace, the Hall of Supreme Reverence.

Chen Wen had just concluded a small-scale court audience and was discussing with Zhang Cheng and Wang Ru the matters of further promoting the vortex machine and fully distributing the heart-guarding talisman.

The robust vortex of Fortune Momentum within him continued to flow steadily, bringing a sense of steadfast control over the whole situation.

However, at that very moment.

His brow twitched slightly.

An extremely faint sensation of discomfort, unlike any previous perception, came from afar.

It was not malice directed at living beings, nor a fluctuation of converging yin energy.

But rather a feeling……as if the earth were silently wailing, vitality being secretly drawn away—a sense of 'withering'.

This feeling was extremely subtle; had it not been for his currently abundant Fortune Momentum, his perception of atmospheric changes within the dynasty's territory far surpassing before, it would hardly have been detectable.

He instinctively stopped speaking, his gaze turning northward outside the hall, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Your Majesty?" Zhang Cheng keenly noticed Chen Wen's anomaly.

Wang Ru also cast an inquiring glance.

Chen Wen did not answer immediately; he closed his eyes, carefully sensing the faint yet unsettling 'signal' coming from several different directions to the north.

The land lost its vitality, water sources were contaminated……not a natural disaster, but rather……some kind of artificial, malicious erosion.

"Something's wrong." Chen Wen opened his eyes, his gaze turning sharp, "Several northern prefectures have almost simultaneously sent reports of earth qi anomalies, suggesting……signs of withering."

Zhang Cheng and Wang Ru's faces instantly turned solemn.

Earth qi anomalies concern the foundation of agriculture; they are the very basis of the state.

Especially at this critical juncture of confronting the False Song while Fortune Momentum grows, any abnormality involving the people's livelihood is absolutely no trivial matter.

"I will immediately order the Ministry of Households to urgently have the relevant prefectures and counties report details!" Zhang Cheng said at once.

"The Bureau of Peace and Security will also dispatch additional personnel to investigate the anomalous areas, to see if they are linked to the Iron Crow Army or a new plot by the False Song," Wang Ru added, a flash of coldness in her eyes.

Chen Wen nodded.

He walked to the palace gate, gazing at the somewhat overcast northern sky.

The effects of 'shade corrosion' had not yet been fully dispelled, when a new threat arrived.

Moreover, this time it targeted the more fundamental land and water sources.

"Issue an order to the Ministry of Works: have Old Zhao Nian halt further improvements on the vortex machine, immediately lead a team, carrying all relevant detection and purification equipment, to investigate the anomalous areas."

"Tell him, this time the 'illness' may not lie in people, but in the land and rivers."

The eunuch bowed, received the command, and hurried away.

Chen Wen drew a deep breath, sensing the subtle rejection and opposition between his internal Fortune Momentum and the distant 'withering' feeling.

"They have changed their methods." Chen Wen's voice was calm, yet carried a hint of chill, "From eroding people's hearts, they turned to destroying the foundations."

Zhang Cheng's face grew grave: "If that is truly the case, their hearts deserve death! This is a plot to exterminate the lineage!"

Wang Ru clenched her fists: "We must quickly find a countermeasure, otherwise, if panic spreads among the populace, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Chen Wen said nothing.

He understood that the master of the Iron Crow Army, or rather the 'rules' behind it, had lost patience.

The 'cleansing' intensity has been upgraded.

From the mental-level 'shade corrosion,' we have entered the material-level 'bone-corrosion.'

This is a new, even more brutal war.

The battlefield is every inch of land and every river under his rule.

The standard of victory is whether one can preserve the vitality of this land and water, and whether one can prevent his people from falling into despair on the withered earth.

"No matter what methods they employ."

"I, shall continue."

He murmured to himself, his gaze once again becoming firm and profound.

The vortex of Fortune Momentum within him seemed to sense his will, its flow speed subtly increasing a fraction.

And it stood in distant opposition to the intangible descending 'bone-corrosion' force.

The undercurrent has already been upgraded.

And Great Chen's response has only just begun.