ASER - Chapter 223
Chapter 223: Time Chamber
Everyone initially thought it was a joke, but it turned out this person was serious. Yu Xuanji stared at A'Diao for a long while. Being an old fox, he also understood that A'Diao must have a backup plan, so he smiled.
"Hmm, that seems right too. One should indeed bring some dowry over."
A'Diao swiftly produced a list.
Yu Xuanji glanced at it, his pupils constricting slightly, but he quickly calmed down. "It's too much."
A'Diao: "What if I manage to seduce even that Baiyue Xiangsi? That would be a different price."
Yu Xuanji gritted his teeth: "Makes sense. I'll prepare it for you."
The stingy appearance of Lushan's Mountain Head greatly resembled certain underachieving high school seniors who, holding the college entrance exams hostage, made exorbitant demands.
Everyone: "..."
However, A'Diao then gave the mutated substances to Song Ling, asking her to distribute them to Shen Huajing and the others who had now proactively become "backup options." Seizing the opportune moment of the secret records, these individuals each gained something, with most of them entering the Star Realm. If not compared to A'Diao, these people could already be compared to the golden generation of prodigies from the primordial era.
At least the strongest four – Shen Huajing, Song Ling, Handan Jidao, and Mo Yuwo – had firmly established themselves in the upper stage of the Star Realm, and Song Ling had even reached the peak of the Star Realm.
Their foundations were like small streams. The four of them most likely could fight those half a step into the Grandmaster realm, surpassing their own level. Song Ling was stronger; the power of her spiritual mutation had become prominent, allowing her to fight Junior Grandmasters. However, none of them could replicate A'Diao's daily combat prowess of fighting across an entire major realm.
After all, A'Diao was currently at the peak of the Grandmaster realm, but her foundation was like a vast ocean.
But after undergoing transformation from the mutated substances, their aptitude could still evolve significantly...
Yu Xuanji seemed to be bickering with A'Diao, but in reality, he glanced at Song Ling and Shen Huajing, fully aware of their "submission transaction" with A'Diao.
"I will first send Lushan's Dharma Protectors, elders, and even guest retainers to participate in the battle. You students need to first consolidate what you've gained from the secret records. Don't rush your cultivation; follow your respective teachers' training plans... By the way, I previously rigged up a training chamber with ten times the normal time speed. You all go in and stay for a while."
Yu Xuanji found a suitable reason to protect these students first, lest they die prematurely on the battlefield.
Upon hearing about the time-accelerated training chamber, Song Ling, Shen Huajing, and Xu Ye were all somewhat delighted.
Previously, during the Lushan assessments, there were similar training opportunities, but those were rewards A'Diao obtained by taking side paths, and they only had short-term effects. Most people didn't have the chance to enjoy them. Now, there was actually a time-accelerated training chamber available for an extended period?
Clearly, this was prepared for the students, because for them, time was the most precious resource; the golden growth period curve was right there.
But the current situation did not allow them to grow slowly like the geniuses of the primordial era.
They were like broiler chickens benefiting from the rapid development of the primordial era, their "meat quality" not as good as the first generation's. But there was no choice, because if they didn't develop, they would die on the battlefield. In reality, compared to the younger generation of cultivators outside, they had Lushan's legacy and teachings, which were already considered excellent, and their foundations were also stable.
These were the limitations of the era.
After giving his instructions, Yu Xuanji said to A'Diao in a stern and formal tone: "Our Lushan Academy has always been hospitable. You are, after all, the Junior Sect Master, so you should have some prestige. The Seventh Heaven has courtyards specifically for receiving distinguished guests. If you are willing..."
Smack! A'Diao covered Yu Xuanji's mouth and turned to the Qu Xia'er sisters who were looking over, saying, "I have plenty of rooms here. You can stay wherever you like. If that's not enough, I'll go stay at Cang Wu's place, and you can stay here."
The courtyard gate was open. Cang Wu, who was just walking into the courtyard carrying a bag of snacks and ingredients, heard this and paused for a moment. He quickly glanced over, but soon regained his composure and walked over to greet Yu Xuanji and the others.
A'Diao's legs wouldn't move the moment she saw those snacks.
The summer fruit shaved ice jelly that you had to queue for...
Since she had eaten the gifts, it was only natural to invite the other party to sit down for a meal.
After Cang Wu sat down, he mentioned his Tianling Clan's arrangements.
Currently, Tang Song and the Tianling Clan were tied together. But because the old king had passed away and his own sister had not borne children, the relationship between the Tianling Clan and Tang Song was actually very weak and could break apart at any time. That was why the court ministers, worried about the country and its people, turned a blind eye to A'Diao and the Empress Dowager's "call me if you're lonely" situation.
Their interests and political stances could align with the Imperial Family's, but there were also slight deviations. As long as A'Diao belonged to Tang Song, could protect Tang Song, and maintain its stability, they wished for her to become stronger and stronger.
"Wu Mountain hasn't stated its position yet, but my sister and the clan seniors predict that Lie Qin and Nan Jin will, on one hand, demand Tang Song to send people to cooperate in finding that mastermind, and on the other hand, cut off support from other factions to Tang Song's Huaiguang Demon Cave, thereby tying down Tang Song's forces."
"The clan intends for me to go and persuade Wu Mountain and the Taihao Clan."
This overlapped with A'Diao's itinerary. Song Ling glanced at Cang Wu, understanding clearly: Did he need to carry things he bought in his hands? Could the dignified young lord of a foreign imperial clan not even afford storage equipment? He even came specifically to report his itinerary, and it seemed he had recently been observing certain milk tea shops at the foot of the mountain... as if wanting to learn some technique.
This person appeared refined and gentle, like a light breeze and soft rain, yet he was a fighter jet among the backup options. Compared to him, even Cao Juanzhi seemed a bit too deliberate and straightforward.
However, A'Diao probably didn't care.
How she treated people never had anything to do with how others treated her; she only considered her own needs.
After settling some matters, Yu Xuanji and the Great Elder left. On the way, the Great Elder said, "She has mastered a special method to improve aptitude that even Lushan doesn't possess. You're not going to ask? Nor give rewards or help?"
In his view, A'Diao was now an indispensable figure for Lushan. Everyone, from top to bottom, was proud and confident that Lushan could produce a Junior Sect Master comparable to the founder, as if it had suddenly revitalized the decadent and uneasy atmosphere that had persisted since the primordial era. However, it was clear that A'Diao's attachment to Lushan was minimal; she always seemed ready to detach at any moment. Therefore, the Elder Council was constantly worried about how to win her over.
Yu Xuanji gave the Great Elder a deep look. "Back then, when Old Ancestor Kunlun dominated the world, he only listened to the opinions of two people in the entire world, but no one dared to say anything, even thinking it was natural. Similarly, our Junior Sect Master should also receive such treatment. Let her do whatever she wants; we just need to follow."
"Besides, Old Ancestor Kunlun hasn't said anything either."
Everyone outside said that with such a major event on the island, Langya's Kunlun hadn't reacted, so he must have truly fallen. But looking at A'Diao's behavior, he knew Kunlun still had some presence – because she was a bit audacious, and this audacity was built on the confidence that someone had her back.
So even now, with A'Diao's powerful rise and her strong confrontation with various factions, Yu Xuanji actually didn't feel much pressure.
With Kunlun around, Lushan was as stable as Mount Tai.
With Kunlun around, the founders of the other two mountains and the old ancestors of the Imperial Family were all insignificant!
Therefore, he wished A'Diao would keep her private assets hidden, and ideally, cooperate with Kunlun to help him recover... As long as Lushan's two top combat powers were present, Lushan would be as stable as Mount Tai.
And the entire Lushan belonged to Kunlun. What could A'Diao possibly want that she couldn't get?
Did they even need to inquire?
Only then did Yu Xuanji completely let go and focus on the students' training – because he saw that A'Diao intended to cultivate these students, which meant she was building her own power base, preparing to take over Lushan. That was enough.
After Yu Xuanji made this judgment, A'Diao arranged the travel time with Cang Wu and then went to the secret vault.
Inside the study, the fragrance of books still lingered, classical and graceful. As soon as A'Diao entered, she saw, sitting upright and elegantly grinding ink... a giant panda.
Elegant, so elegant.
How could those chubby and short panda fingers hold the ink stick and grind it like that?
Well, it just held it like that.
It was truly a cute contrast. A'Diao was stunned for a moment and managed to suppress a laugh with great difficulty.
Kunlun looked up at her, his expression slightly odd.
He saw the karmic luck on A'Diao.
A'Diao noticed the change in Kunlun's eyes and was slightly startled. Had he seen it?
"Old Ancestor, have you been paying attention to the island matter?"
"Mm."
"Then what do you think?"
"As long as you're not dead, it's fine."
A'Diao didn't ask him why he didn't care about the Langya Clan's affairs. She just vaguely guessed that this person must have had a way back then to confirm the deaths of the entire Langya Clan and Changting, which was why he became disheartened and had no intention of bothering with those inanimate objects.
Yes, for someone like Langya's Kunlun, those treasures were indeed just inanimate objects. They had little impact on them, so naturally, he didn't care. As for this conspiracy...
He should have sensed it later.
But A'Diao looked down at her secret ring, lost in thought, while taking out a pile of things – large and small bags of food and daily necessities.
Kunlun looked at her. "I don't need these."
"I'm not giving them to you."
Kunlun: "?"
A'Diao: "They're for my bear."
Kunlun, currently wearing the skin of a panda: "..."
Chen A'Diao was someone full of cheesy sweet talk. Whenever she wanted to please someone, flattering words would just roll off her tongue.
Kunlun was silent for a moment and didn't touch the large and small bags on the table. A'Diao didn't pay him any mind either, picked out some books she needed, and prepared to leave.
Time outside was pressing.
"Wait, take this."
A'Diao turned back. Kunlun threw out a streak of light. She raised her hand and caught it, discovering it was a miniature space.
"This is? A time chamber?"
A'Diao was astonished, but Kunlun's expression was indifferent. "I know Eldest Brother has a better time chamber, but the foundation of a time chamber lies in Spacetime Aetherite. The more Aetherite, the better the time multiplication effect. Take this, merge it, and keep it for your own use in the future. You don't have to be constrained to always come here."
He wasn't trying to curry favor with her; he was naturally giving her the best things.
A'Diao accepted the item, put away Xiao Yuanbao, and left the sparrow. But she raised an eyebrow with a proud and reserved smile, "No, I still want to come. To see you."
A light, airy sentence, landing without a sound, yet soft as a goose feather brushing the heart.
Kunlun: "?"
But A'Diao had already left.
After she left, Kunlun propped his panda-pawed cheek against the desk and remained silent for a long time, thinking: Why would Eldest Brother choose her? If he chose her, there could only be one reason – she truly possessed Celestial Clan bloodline. Was this the Celestial Clan coming for revenge?
If it was revenge, then...
Kunlun didn't think about the fate of Lushan, Tang Song, and the human race at that time. His mind drifted, thinking of the distant past, remembering the divine lady he had once glimpsed, and the way his Eldest Brother, a peerless pearl of the human race, had gazed at her. Finally, he pursed his lips, unhappily propping up his chubby panda head with his other paw.
After a good while, his gaze became somewhat unfocused. The paw resting against his cheek couldn't help but scratch his jowls, the flesh jiggling... His gaze also seemed to leap and drift towards the large and small bags of food on the nearby table.
The aroma wafted over.
It smelled so good.
She must be doing it on purpose, using food and companionship to lure him.
She was so mischievous.
A'Diao arranged to go to Wu Mountain with Cang Wu. She wasn't familiar with Wu Mountain's location, but Cang Wu had been there before. After all, as the young lord of the Tianling Clan and an heir, he had often accompanied his father, grandfather, and others on diplomatic visits, so he knew the way.
The world was vast, and Wu Mountain was far away. The secret realm was in a high-density dimensional space, more hidden and remote than Lushan. Just the spaceship journey would take half a month.
For this half-month, A'Diao hitched a ride on the Tianling Clan's royal vessel. However, she brought Song Ling along. On the first day, just as the royal vessel entered the spatial tunnel, A'Diao asked Cang Wu, "Has your sister mentioned anything about the Imperial Family recently?"
"Not really. They are very polite to her because Tang Song's situation is indeed not good recently. The Imperial Family is unwilling to directly curry favor with you, so even though the Huaiguang situation is bad now, they only think of using Lushan to make you act, rather than granting you military authority from the court's perspective. In order to get the Tianling Clan's help, they haven't hesitated to give her many benefits."
So A'Diao was giving them the cold shoulder, refusing to act.
She was neither a saint who saved people from suffering, nor a member of the Imperial Family who enjoyed the highest ruling power of the nation. Why should she contribute for free, and even have to worry about being backstabbed by the Imperial Family?
Most people on the island were spared from disaster, and her contribution was significant. She had a clear conscience towards the human race.
No one could morally blackmail her.
"Did she not say if her mother-son relationship with the Monarch is good?"
That sounded a bit strange.
The relationship between a royal stepmother and stepson had always been delicate, especially now in an era of cultivation where age was disregarded. There were even many folk tales fantasizing about a love triangle between A'Diao, the new Monarch, and the Empress Dowager, so melodramatic that the court had legislated severe punishments for them.
Cang Wu looked at A'Diao, his clear gaze seeking her true meaning.
Song Ling, who was reading the mental power notes A'Diao had compiled for her, also looked up.
A'Diao didn't say much. Instead, while holding chopsticks and eating fried noodles with one hand, she tapped the space between her eyebrows with the other, drew out a strand of mental thread, and looped it in the air, connecting its ends.
The circular mental construct immediately transformed into a moderately sized spiritual true-eye illusionary mirror through a technique restriction.
This move made Song Ling and Cang Wu's hearts jump in alarm: This was cosmic space, yet she could create such a true-eye illusionary mirror, and through spiritual probing means at that. How strong must her mental power and spiritual secret arts be? Perhaps her skill in technique operation was already on par with the three great Mountain Heads, not just her combat power.
And at this moment, they saw in the mirror... The perspective seemed to be from a secret laboratory, where several black-robed scientists were testing and examining something.
It was blood.
The testing method was very advanced. Cang Wu and Song Ling observed the equipment and found that it was all the most cutting-edge equipment from the current three nations, and there were also some transcendent-grade forbidden items.
It formed a vast and mysterious department whose equipment specifications even surpassed those of the core institutions of the National Science Institute.
But these people were now all focused solely on examining a blood sample, and in a set of crystal tubes within the core equipment, there was another portion of blood.
Golden blood.
A'Diao guessed this was the blood of a Celestial Clan member.
Damn, they were thorough, even specifically using Celestial Clan blood for DNA comparison.
A'Diao looked at the golden blood, somewhat covetous.
She was also somewhat in the dark about her own Celestial Clan bloodline and wanted to understand it further, but the researcher she was impersonating was not of a high enough level to have access to its core data like the person in charge.
What a pity.
But this meant that the mastermind had possession of Celestial Clan blood and remains; otherwise, they wouldn't have taken out a portion for experiments.
Song Ling and Cang Wu both understood: The other tube of bright red blood must be A'Diao's, and this place must be the testing center of the mastermind's secret faction. Because when it came to analyzing DNA, even a peak Great Spirit King expert couldn't accurately determine the DNA content of a living being and had to rely on the power of science and equipment.
And this blood most likely came from that island, collected by that old man from the mountain wall.
But clearly, A'Diao was prepared – she had anticipated this and left a monitoring backup... Could it be that she had hidden a mental thread within the blood?
Song Ling remembered that A'Diao's notes mentioned techniques for operating mental threads after they left the body, but that was based on spiritual attachment. Recently, Qu Jiangnan had also pulled her in to learn spiritual attachment because she now met the qualifications to learn it, and Qu Jiangnan naturally hoped that the people on their side would become as strong as possible.
However, the mental thread in the blood must have detached from the blood after entering this laboratory, because its spiritual power would be detected upon entering these testing devices. So, this mental thread should be hiding somewhere in the laboratory, and its viewpoint was its hiding place.
So, what would be found in A'Diao's blood?
Moreover, the people present now were just researchers. Their professional skills were strong, but their cultivation levels were not high, so the mental thread could still remain hidden. But what if that old man and the mastermind came? Wouldn't it be exposed then?
Compared to their worries, A'Diao was much calmer. While these scientists were still racking their brains trying to get some groundbreaking results from studying the blood, the monitoring perspective changed; the mental thread was moving.
Moving where?
It moved to the restroom of a dormitory room where a researcher was resting. This completely transparent, spiritual-body-state mental thread, hundreds of times thinner than a strand of hair, automatically twisted into a mark in the air.
It absorbed a small amount of spiritual energy from the air, then activated the mark, and then... silently, a person teleported into this restroom.
Of course, it wasn't her main body, but a clone. A'Diao had left this clone within Tang Song territory long ago, convenient for teleporting to this secret laboratory.
After the clone entered, it invisibly passed through the restroom and approached the researcher sleeping on the bed.
The clone raised its hand and pressed it above his head, its fingertips activating a spiritual secret art – Memory Devour!
This thing had another name in novels and movies: Soul Searching Technique.
It looked incredibly powerful, but the difficulty was truly high. Even Yu Xuanji took hundreds of years of cultivation to master it. However, A'Diao had taken a shortcut; after all, the content of the 20 Fish Talismans was too advanced, basically belonging to the legacy of the Celestial Clan.
Song Ling: "Can you find out the identities of those two?"
"No, the other party was disguised, and the mastermind has never been here. All handovers were done by this old man."
That was truly cautious.
All three of them evaluated it this way, but it wasn't surprising. This mastermind, the Human-Demon, was an extremely difficult character to deal with.
After A'Diao's clone obtained all of the researcher's memories, she scanned his body with a skill so advanced his own parents wouldn't recognize it... In less than ten seconds, she transformed into this person. Then, she threw the unconscious, unlucky fellow into a living space, deciding to deal with him later. In any case, she could throw him to Lushan's intelligence department for interrogation.
After transforming into him, she waited for a while until his break ended. He then went out and replaced another researcher to continue the work.
She actually joined the team investigating her own DNA?
Was she going to alter the investigation results?
No, she didn't change it; she actually helped.
This researcher was considered a top professional in this field within Tang Song. However, A'Diao's skill level was already higher than these people's. Even without his memories, let alone with them, she was more than capable of handling this research work. So, she meticulously helped with the research...
Neither Cang Wu nor Song Ling was anxious. They cultivated while observing the situation. They also vaguely sensed that A'Diao was letting them watch this process so they could witness the identity of the mastermind – which meant there would definitely be things for them to do next.
So, both of them were very serious.
Half a day later, the investigation results were out.
Song Ling, who was trying to split her mental threads, was slightly nervous. The head of the laboratory, however, compiled all the data and results, frowning slightly. "Strange, it actually..."
Actually what?
The person in charge didn't speak further but contacted someone. A'Diao stood in a corner, finishing up her work, while glancing at the teleportation array in the laboratory and leaving an imprint on it.
It could spy on the spatial trajectory data of the person about to teleport in – making it convenient for her to later calculate its source coordinates.
After a while, the teleportation array indeed activated.
An old man arrived. His appearance was different from the old man from the mountain wall; at this moment, he was yet another old man.
After receiving the report, he frowned. "Are you sure it's not Celestial Clan bloodline?"
"It's not."
Of course not. A'Diao knew that the Celestial Clan bloodline was hidden in the spiritual sea, not DNA distributed in the flesh, bones, and other physical tissues in the traditional sense.
She couldn't even find it herself, let alone these dregs.
"Regardless of the data or the DNA comparison results, it doesn't match."
"Is it her previous DNA data?"
When the old man asked this, Song Ling knew he suspected that A'Diao had deliberately replaced the blood with her previous blood – her aptitude transformation was too terrifying; perhaps her blood had also changed, who knew.
Person in charge: "No, it's different from before. It should be said that after the curse was lifted, her genes showed signs of mutation. It's suspected to be due to the influence of the Sun-aspect substance. You know, the probability of gene mutation exists, especially for a cultivator like her who has experienced curses and gene fragmentation. The regrowth phase is very active, and her aptitude was already good. If there's external stimulation, the probability of mutation is not low."
This explanation was quite plausible. Even A'Diao felt that, excluding the influence of the Celestial Clan bloodline, the person in charge's explanation actually fit her situation very well.
The old man fell silent, repeatedly looking at the report. Finally, he said in a deep voice, "Understood. You continue with the original project's research."
He left. As he was leaving, the person in charge cleared all the teleportation information from the teleportation array.
But A'Diao had already obtained the trick of the second teleportation. The trajectory of this departure was different from the original one. Did it go directly to the Human-Demon, or?
Should she follow?
No, A'Diao felt that this old man and the Human-Demon were of the same cautious and experienced ilk. They definitely wouldn't go directly. Most likely, they were altering the teleportation trajectory to prevent any possible tracking.
Caution ensures longevity.
"To be so cautious even at this cultivation realm, impressive." Song Ling had to admit there was a reason why the other party had almost succeeded in the Guixu matter.
A'Diao was quickly calculating the original spatial trajectory position. This was very complex and profound. Song Ling and Cang Wu did not disturb her. After a while, A'Diao calculated the position.
Song Ling glanced at the coordinates, astonished. "This place is..."
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