ASER - Chapter 124
Chapter 124: Investigation
Since her breakthrough was successful, A'Diao prepared to return to the Southern Sea Region coastline. However, due to her significant advancement, her sensory abilities had become far more acute. Originally, after her seclusion, she had only sensed the smell of blood coming from the direction of the outpost, suspecting it might have been attacked. Now, however, she could clearly perceive the approximate scale of the battle and the level of energy fluctuations there.
"Reinforcements have arrived, military warships? The main fleet didn't go, just two of them, huh. But that should be enough."
Seeing that the military had already gone, A'Diao figured that if she went over, she probably wouldn't even have a chance to make a notable contribution, and there wouldn't be much benefit, so she decided against it.
However... she looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds roiling, as if the atmospheric conditions were undergoing complex changes.
"It seems the military has taken action and started to deal with this corrosive weather. Otherwise, no cultivators would be able to stay in B Zone, and sooner or later, another terrifying A Zone would emerge."
Because of the corrosive weather, wilderness cultivators had to withdraw from B Zone. With no one to fight them, the demonic spirits in B Zone's lairs proliferated rampantly. B Zone was thus developing into another A Zone; it was a vicious cycle.
To curb this trend, the military had, after all, developed technological means to control such situations.
Impressive.
As A'Diao watched the corrosive rain gradually show signs of stopping, her mood improved somewhat. She thought to herself that if the situation on the Southern Sea Region coastline improved, she could then go back and check on that Mysterious Person A, dealing with him as appropriate. If she could handle him, she would exact revenge (killing him to get rich and plunder resources). If not, she would quietly slip back to Danzhou to prepare for her exams, and after getting into Lushan Academy, she would return to kill Mysterious Person A.
A'Diao's plans were well laid out, but suddenly, she frowned.
In the sea area to the east, beyond the island where the battle was taking place, another dense wave of energy was rapidly approaching.
A'Diao: "Huh?"
At Outpost No. 2, the group's mentality was actually a bit more optimistic than A'Diao's. They felt the crisis was already resolved and were just waiting for the dust to settle to take a break. They were exhausted; after fourteen days of hard fighting, their shorts were practically soaked enough with sweat to produce a sack of salt.
Especially since two warships had arrived, reversing their previously disadvantaged situation. And with the corrosive rain starting to stop, their morale grew even stronger.
Seeing the situation, Yue Xingxi also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After arriving in B Zone, she knew the situation here was worse than she had anticipated, and the risks were considerable. Fortunately, the Qingzhou-led military was more reliable than she had realized and hadn't simply given up.
However, Yue Xingxi was a mental-type cultivator, her talent focused on sensing spiritual bodies. After the warships and military elites descended, she sensed faint fluctuations in the distance.
"This is great! Wonderful!"
"Reinforcements are here!"
"Brothers, push harder!"
Of the more than three thousand people, over a thousand had already died in battle, and the survivors were all at the end of their tether. Seeing hope now, they were all overjoyed, and some even intensified their attacks, attempting to solidify their advantage.
But Yue Xingxi suddenly said, "Your Excellency Major General, the enemy might have reinforcements!"
The others: "?"
The military personnel were capable, after all. The Major General immediately contacted the warships via military satellite signal.
The warships began scanning... After a while, their information department relayed a message to the people on the island.
"Yes, there is indeed a wave of reinforcements, and their scale is not small. The two largest energy signatures among them are suspected to be two Level 7 entities."
"!!!"
Damn it! The crowd, who had just climbed out of despair and found hope, suddenly plunged back into the abyss of despair.
The Major General's expression changed drastically. "Immediately request assistance from the main fleet! Tell them to dispatch warships here at once, quickly!"
"Yes, sir. But it's predicted that this wave of demonic spirit reinforcements will arrive at the battlefield in ten minutes, while our warships might take twenty minutes to get here."
"..."
The Major General's vision went dark.
It was over.
Although the Major General was in despair, he dared not share this devastating news, fearing it would demoralize his soldiers and make them fight passively.
"Everyone, the main fleet is on its way! Keep fighting!"
The Major General shouted encouragement, but Yue Xingxi, who knew the dire situation, felt a sense of foreboding. Her brow furrowed slightly, a hint of hesitation on her fair, delicate face. She glanced at Zhao Guang and secretly sent a message to an Elder Zhao using a private communication technique.
"If things go south, follow the original contingency plan. You few, escort Zhao Guang away immediately."
"Young Mistress, what about you?!"
"It will depend on the situation."
Elder Zhao felt a lump in his throat.
To allow one group to break through the encirclement and escape, another group with sufficient combat strength had to stay behind and cover their retreat.
Her strength ranked among the top ten here, and as a powerful support-type mental cultivator, she couldn't leave. If she did, the Forbidden Master combat team would collapse, and the situation would devolve into a complete rout.
The resurgence of spiritual energy was indeed an opportunity, but also a disaster.
The situation was volatile and ever-changing, making it perpetually difficult to determine whether developments were good or bad.
Yue Xingxi looked at the distant sky, where the dark clouds were clearly beginning to disperse, revealing patches of clear sky. An inexplicable sense of helplessness and sorrow washed over her.
And this time, how many of the remaining cultivators in B Zone would lose their lives?
Ten minutes later.
The sky was clear for thousands of miles, the corrosive rain having indeed stopped. The main fleet was rushing at full speed, but it had split into two groups.
"Both Outpost No. 1 and No. 2 are in trouble. These damned demonic spirits seem to be controlled by some strategist; they're full of tricks. They've actually consolidated into two waves, abandoned outposts like 4, 5, and 6, and are specifically targeting Outposts No. 1 and 2. And they've arranged reinforcements to encircle and annihilate them. Our deployment has failed. If we rush over now, I'm afraid the casualties will already be severe."
"We still have to go! Save as many as we can! What are the current sensor readings? How much longer until arrival? What's the battle situation at both locations? Have the Shaman groups and Fishmen groups landed on Outposts No. 1 and 2?"
The commander of the flagship was paying close attention and inquiring about key information, but he saw the personnel in the information department looking stunned. He took a look himself and was also taken aback.
Near Outpost No. 2, the large cluster of red dots that should have already encircled or landed on the island had vanished.
They had completely disappeared from the sensor screen.
"They... they just vanished like ghosts. We don't even know when it happened."
"No, I was just watching the red dots. They were flickering, and then they flickered a few more times and quickly disappeared."
The technicians couldn't understand it, but the commander was cautious. "Perhaps they're hiding, or they chose to lie low due to some unforeseen event. Notify our forces there to remain vigilant. However, this is a good development... Have the forward warships engage main thrusters to increase speed. We must prepare to handle the worst-case scenario."
"Yes, sir!"
On the island, the Major General and Yue Xingxi were also very puzzled. Knowing the intelligence, they had expected the Fishmen reinforcements to have arrived and launched a fierce assault on the island by now, yet there wasn't even a shadow of them.
Were they lying in ambush for a surprise attack?
"No, these Fishmen themselves are very agitated and restless. Something unexpected has happened to their battle plan. Those Shamans are communicating, and the three-headed boss is also trying to control its minions." Yue Xingxi sensed the Fishmen's emotions and immediately urged everyone to seize the opportunity and press the attack.
Five minutes later, the warship support arrived.
The human side completely turned the tide; at least, Outpost No. 2 had won. But as for Outpost No. 1... The group on the flagship breathed a collective sigh of relief and immediately turned their attention to Outpost No. 1. Soon, they received a report from the warship dispatched there: the Shaman reinforcements targeting Outpost No. 1 had not vanished; they had joined the battle. The situation at Outpost No. 1 had been critical, but human reinforcements had arrived.
"It's people from Danzhou. They've arrived."
Danzhou? The one known as a haven for slackers, the one that gets fleeced by the powerful clans of Yunzhou and doesn't even dare to squeak, the Danzhou that's even more timid than Hanzhou and keeps its head down, afraid to get involved?
Had a sow learned to climb a tree?
"Once the battle is over, spare some personnel to investigate the specifics, especially concerning Outpost No. 2."
"I can't shake the feeling that something is very strange."
A'Diao, too, felt that something was strange at this moment.
She had just slain a Level 7 Fishman boss and then, using her "gaze threads," Daoist arts, and Level 5 energy talismans, had unleashed a full-powered barrage on this wave of Fishmen reinforcements. Apart from the one-third of the Fishmen who had scattered and fled, the rest of their corpses were here.
Impressive. She couldn't help but praise herself.
She was so formidable now.
Having just advanced, she had gone all out, emptying her spiritual essence to deal with this large wave. After collecting the corpses of over six thousand Level 5 Fishmen, A'Diao was about to take out a vegetable pancake to fill her stomach while taking some recovery pills and preparing to sweep B Zone for remaining demonic spirits to gather resources, when she suddenly felt something was off.
"Why has the temperature dropped again?"
She was very sensitive now. If the air temperature was dropping this quickly, then the sea... She raised her hand, drawing a stream of water towards her to feel its temperature.
Hiss—it was bone-chillingly cold.
"Heavens, this isn't right. I need to quickly retreat to the Southern Sea Region coastline and assess the situation before deciding anything else."
A'Diao decisively abandoned her plan to sweep B Zone. Acting furtively, like a thief, she gathered the corpses, erased all traces of her presence, then turned, mounted her flight device, and fled.
Toilet: "Never cool for more than three seconds. Capable of going wild and also capable of laying low. That's impressive in its own way."
Previously, it had taken A'Diao two days to reach B Zone, but the return trip only took one day. On the way, she had intended to order Level 6 talisman resources as soon as she got a signal after exiting B Zone, but unexpectedly, she couldn't get a signal at all.
The return journey was shorter, not primarily because her cultivation had improved, but mainly because her spiritual core allowed her to manipulate spatial elements, enhancing the effectiveness of her Xun Spirit Eyes and her flight device. Otherwise, her current speed probably wouldn't have been much different from before, as she still relied on the flight device for long-distance travel.
Upon reaching the Southern Sea Region coastline, A'Diao didn't enter directly but first scouted the area... Huh. There were no assassins lying in wait, nor were there many demonic spirits nearby.
The coastline was now even safer than before.
Was it because all the demonic spirits had been moved to B Zone to cause trouble?
But it could also be because many people from zones other than A and B had returned, bolstering the combat power reserves along the coastline, and the remaining demonic spirits had likely been cleared out.
A'Diao decided to swagger openly back to the Sea-Sky One Hue resort in her shorts. She finally had a signal. As soon as she returned to her room, before even taking a bath, A'Diao had Xiao Yuanbao and Sparrow test the atmospheric elemental index.
"This low temperature isn't right. Damn it, the corrosive rain just ended. This kind of weather isn't normal; it might be a chain of severe weather phenomena."
By the time A'Diao finished her bath, Sparrow had compiled the data. A'Diao studied the figures, lost in thought.
"It seems to be just a drop in temperature. It's probably a meteorological change caused by that device after the corrosive rain ended, perhaps due to oceanic climate cycles?"
A'Diao wasn't knowledgeable in this area; after all, it wasn't covered in her exams. Since she couldn't reach a conclusion, she decided to set the matter aside for the time being.
Currently, she was more suspicious about Mysterious Person A's situation. That scoundrel was a high-ranking military official; had he gone to A Zone or B Zone to provide support?
If that were the case, it would be difficult for her to investigate his shady dealings. However... the clues she had gathered earlier could still be useful.
A'Diao began to investigate the accounts of the ten bandit leaders she had previously baited using that young man. If she had relied solely on Sparrow to check their accounts, it might have taken several days, as these individuals certainly had their own security measures. But now, her five senses were exceptionally sharp; often, upon discovering the slightest clue, she could immediately sense further connections and confirm several leads.
Two hours later, she had pinpointed all ten individuals and obtained their profiles.
"Impressive. This isn't some Bandit Alliance; it's clearly an 'Infernal Affairs' club, spanning all five prefectures. It includes all sorts of people, all appearing ordinary and law-abiding, seemingly unconnected and very low-key, yet each one is a bandit leader."
"The reason all ten are on the coastline and haven't been caught is probably because they don't go out to sea at all. Their aim is to assassinate cultivators returning from the sea region with hard-earned resources, getting rich in one fell swoop."
A'Diao felt these people were even worse than the bandits back in Danzhou; truly unscrupulous.
Toilet: "Are you going to eliminate them directly and seize their resources? It would be very easy for you now. Their true peak strength is only at the Transcendent Realm."
A'Diao: "No, they are just superficial pawns. The resources have likely all been handed over—that Mysterious Person A is no fool. After He Luo's death, how could he possibly leave valuable resources in the hands of these underlings?"
Toilet grew curious. "So, you intend to find traces of Mysterious Person A through them? I'm afraid that will be very difficult. A only had direct contact with He Luo. Even for the purpose of gathering resources, he wouldn't directly interact with these people, given how cunning and cautious he is."
A'Diao: "Correct. But these ten individuals haven't been found by the military yet. This either means they've severed their mutual communication channels, or someone within the military unit investigating them is one of A's people and is providing cover. However, there's another possibility—they've resorted to a simpler, more archaic method of contact: meeting in person."
Toilet: "So, you're going to pursue these three lines of inquiry?"
A'Diao: "Well, I have free time now, so I might as well try investigating."
Setting aside her grudge over the "Big Whale's" assassination attempt, A'Diao was inherently meticulous and prone to overthinking. Leaving this Mysterious Person A at large was a significant threat to her. After all, even if she fled back to Danzhou and resumed her original identity, this person was still a high-ranking official in the Five Prefectures' military, a fact that stuck in her craw like a fishbone.
A'Diao first surreptitiously placed inconspicuous butterfly (or rather, large moth) talismans on the ten individuals to track their movements and monitor their conversations. Then, she also began to surveil and spy on the members of the official investigation team.
She found nothing on the first day but wasn't anxious. After all, now possessing Glimmer rank combat power, she wasn't intimidated; she could advance to attack or retreat to defend. She methodically ordered some Level 6 and Level 7 talisman materials from Huayao Bank. Fortunately, high-level talisman masters were rare, especially those capable of creating such advanced talismans in the Five Prefectures. The bank's vault within the Sea-Sky One Hue hotel had them in stock, so A'Diao didn't even have to wait for delivery.
She wasn't even buying medicinal ingredients now, as she was unsure when she would leave the coastline, making delivery times unpredictable. So, she decided to forgo it.
However, the 【Appoint Soldiers Summon Generals】 manual was also in the bank vault, so A'Diao decided to withdraw it at the same time.
On the way back to her room, she stopped by the restaurant and ordered a large amount of food.
She ate one portion in the restaurant and planned to take another back to her room for snacks and a late-night meal.
As she was eating and watching the news, she suddenly heard a commotion outside. A'Diao turned her head and saw, through the restaurant's massive floor-to-ceiling windows, a large vessel flying back from high above the sea region.
A'Diao initially assumed that given the vessel's battered exterior, it must have returned from either A Zone or B Zone. Unexpectedly, she immediately spotted people she hadn't expected to see here.
Uh, Song Ling and Tuoba?
Not just them; Rao Xueya and their group had also come.
Uh... A Class 1 field trip?
Over a dozen people had come, though a few with lower cultivation levels or those not skilled in combat hadn't joined.
Had that old codger, the Principal, gone mad? Had the ever-steady Qu Jiangnan actually agreed to this?
A'Diao rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things, but quickly confirmed she wasn't mistaken. However, she also realized: Jiang Zhou hadn't gone mad, and Qu Jiangnan was as composed as ever. It was she who didn't understand them well enough.
It seemed students from the academies of the other four prefectures had come, so it would have been odd if Danzhou Academy hadn't. There might have even been pressure from the military.
Since they dared to come, and bring these students along, it meant they were confident in their ability to control the situation and could create an environment that offered these students significant opportunities—dangerous, yet with their safety largely assured.
"Going to A Zone would definitely be too much for them, so they must have come from B Zone. Jiang Zhou has incredible control techniques and powerful long-range arts. And Qu Jiangnan, with her mental threads and mastery of multiple Daoist arts, excels at group attacks, single-target combat, and mental assaults. Moreover, her stamina is high, she's from a top-tier family, and has abundant resources... It's quite possible the crisis at Outpost No. 1 was resolved by those two."
A'Diao was certain their true combat strength was above the Glimmer rank. They were also skilled in group combat; when they joined forces, they were like a fortress, better at handling large-scale battles than even five Glimmer rank cultivators combined. No wonder.
The two of them hadn't returned, only letting Song Ling and the others come back by themselves?
It seemed matters in B Zone weren't concluded, so Qu Jiangnan and Jiang Zhou, the two powerful cultivators, hadn't returned and were likely stationed in B Zone. Had the military also noticed the strange weather?
However, letting the students return alone likely meant Jiang Zhou and Qu Jiangnan were confident they wouldn't be easily bullied.
A'Diao glanced over the students' cultivation levels, made her assessment, then withdrew her gaze and continued eating.
Still, she was slightly curious.
Toilet: "Song Ling's mental power has become stronger."
A'Diao: "Not stronger in total volume, it hasn't changed. It's just been purified. Could it be she also possesses a secret technique for refining her spiritual body?"
Toilet: "I'm not sure. But in this world, everyone has their own fortuitous encounters; it's hard to say. Perhaps she awakened some special talent."
Toilet was quite pleased. After all, Song Ling was a reliable person and already part of A'Diao's network. Her development was a positive thing.
At this moment, Song Ling and the others were in low spirits. It wasn't because they had been frightened, nor was it because their gains were insufficient. It wasn't even because they couldn't handle Level 5 demonic spirits; as a group, they could still take down a few. It was just... the gap between them and the students from other academies felt immense.
After this blow to their morale, someone couldn't help but grumble.
Yuan Shu: "I really wish that troublemaker A'Diao could come and see this, so she'd learn that there are always people better than her! See if she'd still be so arrogant in the future!"
Zhongchuan Mingxiu: "Why did you have to bring her up? Can't you see Song Ling and the others don't want to talk about her?"
Tuoba: "Are they not mentioning her because it's mealtime? Their group does seem to enjoy eating."
Tian Zhongxiang and a few others: "..."
Cheng Zhang felt that he and Song Ling were being unfairly dragged into this.
Damn it, what was that supposed to mean!
A'Diao's hearing was exceptionally good; she was particularly unhappy when she heard this.
She loved these classmates so much, yet they apparently didn't reciprocate her feelings.
Her heart was about to break.
If she weren't afraid of her signal being traced here, she really wanted to go into their group chat and farm some of their mental power.
But current conditions didn't allow for it, so she let it be.
Song Ling and her group were still quite conspicuous. Primarily, people would notice Song Ling first, then subconsciously size up her companions. They'd see a group of third-year high school students whose cultivation levels were passable, clearly from an academy, but likely to become cannon fodder on the Southern Sea Region coastline.
At least, some students from Yunzhou Academy, having just returned from C Zone, paused when they saw Song Ling's group. Recognizing them as students from Danzhou Academy, and with both groups currently getting food with their trays, the atmosphere became... The subtle glances exchanged between the two sides were difficult to put into words.
The Yunzhou Academy students thought: Their cultivation is so low? Their group average is a whole level below ours.
Although difficult to describe, the students from Yunzhou Academy were inherently arrogant. They were accustomed to looking down on Linzhou Academy and only deferred to Qingzhou Academy. So, one of them couldn't resist and asked with a smirk, "You're from Danzhou Academy? Your academy is quite lenient, letting you all come here. You know, on our side, students below C-rank aren't even permitted to come."
A'Diao had been out for almost a month. While her cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, others couldn't have remained stagnant either.
Her classmates had generally reached D-rank, with the more talented ones at C-rank, while Tuoba and Song Ling were both B-rank.
But there was still an average one-level difference in cultivation compared to the Yunzhou Academy students.
No wonder the other party looked down on them.
Danzhou and Hanzhou were weaker, their foundations not as solid, so being looked down upon was almost a given. But would they simply accept it passively like "salted fish," or would they try to earn back respect?
The students from Danzhou were young and hot-blooded; they would surely explode with anger, wouldn't they?
Many cultivators settled in to watch the unfolding drama.
But to the onlookers' astonishment, this group didn't seem particularly angry. Their reaction, however, was... well, how to put it?
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