LWGP - Chapter 234
Chapter 234: Exploration
Someone's eyes flashed, but then he was startled, because the black soul threads didn't move—his control had failed.
He suddenly met Saling's icy gaze.
Horrified, he sensed danger and immediately reached for the nearby Young Prince, intending to take him hostage to ensure his own safety.
"Deputy Director?"
"Lao Song!"
"What the hell, Lao Song, what are you doing!"
The Young Prince was seized, and the other medical officers panicked. But in the next second, the combat-inept "Young Prince" twisted the deputy director's arm back, breaking it, and used several skills to restrain him.
The others: "???"
A spot on the Young Prince's brow glowed, and he reverted to Feng Liao's appearance.
Heavily injured? It seemed the First Priest Division had healed him up nicely.
Meanwhile, the medical facility's external system announced that the assailant had been apprehended.
Saling sent a reply. Just then, the real Young Prince, who had been hiding in the bathroom, emerged with a bewildered look on his face and asked Saling, "What's going on?"
Saling didn't explain, simply pressing the absorption key for the experiment.
With all external factors dealt with, there was no need to terminate the experiment.
As the Xingyao Light Array entered its secondary activation phase, Saling looked at Wang Jiu lying quietly inside the instrument and mused: Prince Xingyun's starship laboratory contained data on Wang Jiu's flesh and blood. He must have discovered some of the secrets within her body. Prince Xingyun's influence was vast, his network of connections extensive, and his spies innumerable. The medical facility most likely had some of his people.
Therefore, if they were to experiment on Wang Jiu, the forces behind Xingyun would one hundred percent find out, and they would certainly report it to Prince Xingyun.
The soul of a Spirit Witch Spirit King—whether for its immense soul power or… for whatever reason the Emperor was interested, Xingyun's faction would naturally be interested too. Since they had anticipated this, they couldn't possibly just hand it over.
Saling remembered the Emperor's orders. She had no intention of using Wang Jiu as bait or a pawn; she just had to ensure the experiment was completed. Catching the mole was another matter entirely.
Saling was in charge of the controls within the medical facility, with Feng Liao and other high-ranking military officials loyal to the Emperor cooperating.
The deputy director was captured, and the assault team was taken down.
Only then did Saling continue the experiment, but she was also thinking: for Wang Jiu to entrust herself to the Empire's experiment so readily, she must have anticipated the Empire's methods. Otherwise, how could such a cautious person place unconditional trust in her and the Empire? She was merely weighing the pros and cons for herself against the Empire.
The Xingyao Light Array was charging, preparing to absorb the black soul threads of the Black Witch Spirit King. The Young Prince understood what was happening this time and was too nervous to even ask Saling for details. He just stared intently at the screen. Suddenly, he saw the soul threads burst into activity, whistling as they shot towards Wang Jiu's spirit power.
Saling's expression changed, and the others were shocked as well.
What was happening?
"Quick, stabilize it."
"It's no use, they're out of control."
"How could this be!"
The senior medical officers scrambled to handle the situation, but it was too late. The soul threads had already entangled Wang Jiu's spirit power, dragging her into his world.
Watching this, Saling felt a sudden sense of powerlessness.
This situation was beyond her ability to resolve. It was up to the Xingyao Light Array and… Wang Jiu herself.
She remained silent, giving the agitated Young Prince a sharp look that quieted him. Then, she sent a private message to Emperor Xingyao.
Emperor Xingyao listened to the report and watched the live feed of the experiment that Saling broadcasted.
"Two possibilities. Either this Black Witch Spirit King sensed the experiment long ago and was prepared, lulling you into a false sense of security before striking to use this Ma Lisu's dormant spirit power to counter-devour her."
"Or, this Ma Lisu's spirit power is unstable. Unstable spirit power would cause the Xingyao Light Array's power to fluctuate, which in turn woke the Black Witch Spirit King and made him struggle."
Saling agreed with this assessment. "Then, Your Majesty, what should be done now?"
"Wait for me to come, or wait for her to pull through on her own."
His Majesty was coming personally? If Saling wasn't mistaken, His Majesty was currently occupied with something important. It was impossible for him to spare the time to come and save someone from another spacetime, even if that person had saved his son.
He was the most ruthless emperor in the history of the Xingyao Empire, but he always made the most accurate judgments.
At best, he would come as quickly as possible.
Saling frowned, her gaze fixed on the laboratory, a worried expression creasing her brow.
Would this woman, who could laugh and joke even after days of Prince Xingyun's horrific torture, fall here?
If she was counter-devoured, the one to survive would inevitably be that Black Witch Spirit King. At that point, "she" would become an enemy of the Empire.
But how could she possibly resist?
In the world of souls and spirit bodies.
Within the world where the soul, or rather the spiritual substance, resided, the Black Witch Spirit King Mo Ya had surrounded the player's weakened spirit body, leaving no room for escape.
"Poor little girl, I can feel your weakness and pain. Why persist? Why not submit to me and let me free you from your suffering."
"Give up. Don't struggle anymore."
"Entrust your future to me. I am Mo Ya."
But the weak little girl's spirit power only trembled, twisted, and suffered. There was no other reaction. Mo Ya wasn't impatient, but he knew he couldn't afford to delay. A powerful expert was rapidly approaching from the outside.
It was a powerhouse he might not be able to defeat even after counter-devouring and seizing a new body.
Without another word, Mo Ya enveloped Wang Jiu's spirit body.
Devour. He began to devour.
The moment he began devouring her spirit body, he started sharing Wang Jiu's memories.
It was the painful memory of a girl.
Miao Mountain, a basement, the edge of an ancient well. The memory fragments flashed by quickly, then to the outside of a cave.
Inside the cave, a group of cultists who had been lured in were wailing in agony. Black mist howled and twisted, seeping out from the cave entrance. But not far from the entrance, a little girl was squatting on the ground, poking the dirt with a stick. She had dug up an earthworm and was methodically poking it into pieces, while asking the boy beside her in a cold tone.
"Are you hungry?"
"No."
"Really? I am."
She lifted her face and smiled faintly. "Then we'll have to find the next prey."
For a moment, Mo Ya felt as if she were looking right at him.
The moment the word "prey" left her small mouth, he had a sudden realization—this girl was not just hosting him, but another Black Witch Spirit King as well? And it had been hidden for many years.
The most terrifying part was that he hadn't sensed a thing.
Not good!
As Mo Ya was struck with horror, he tried to escape, but he was a step too late. Devouring was a process, a process of fusion.
Who would absorb whom would depend on the final outcome.
In the end, the last thing Mo Ya ever saw was a massive island, a wedding, and two witches.
The two witches were fighting to the death.
One black, one white.
Mo Ya had a sudden epiphany: this woman had done it on purpose.
This was not the first time she had performed such an operation.
A Black Witch and a White Witch.
The first time, she won and survived.
This was the second time.
The Xingyao Light Array was making a huge commotion, and everyone watched with their hearts in their throats. But something even more alarming happened.
They heard a loud bang.
"Doesn't that sound like it's coming from the Sky Prison?"
Such a huge disturbance from the Sky Prison—being the geniuses at the apex of the Empire's intellect, they instantly understood.
A true feint to the east and attack to the west.
The target of Xingyun's group wasn't the medical facility, but the Sky Prison. They wanted to rescue Xingyun!
Everyone subconsciously looked at Feng Liao and Saling.
Feng Liao had replaced the Young Prince, which meant there was a plan in place. They wondered if the commotion at the Sky Prison had been anticipated.
However, Feng Liao, normally a composed general, was now having the deputy director watched while he himself guarded the Young Prince. As for Lord Saling… she was just watching the screen, seemingly unconcerned with the commotion outside.
Oh, so they were prepared?
After the first bang, several more sounds of fighting followed.
At that moment, the Sky Prison had indeed been breached. As for how, don't ask. Just know that someone on the inside had pulled some strings, and intruders had pushed through like they were toppling towers, all the way to Xingyun's cell.
Without delay, Xingyun charged out of the Sky Prison with the group. With the help of some connections, they fled the capital and boarded a starship…
After just two space jumps, having left the capital's military deployment zones, Xingyun was about to celebrate when he saw a dense formation of warships ahead.
His heart sank.
This brother of his… was just as terrifying as he remembered from childhood.
He had calculated his space-jump escape route with one hundred percent accuracy.
Xingyun gave a bitter smile.
He'd really hit a streak of bad luck. It wasn't enough to have a monstrous brother since childhood; the "female prisoner" he'd captured on a whim was also a monster.
The commotion at the medical facility finally subsided, followed by an eerie calm.
Finally, Saling shut down the Xingyao Light Array.
"Lord Saling, be careful."
"Mm."
She walked briskly to the laboratory room and had the instrument send Wang Jiu out.
The people outside still didn't know who had survived, which was why they warned Saling to be careful. Saling looked at Wang Jiu and cast an insight skill.
Her body was unharmed, just paler. The insight result told Saling: she was very weak, her spirit having suffered severe trauma.
Saling was unsure whether to be relieved or worried. Her brow twitched slightly as she looked up. The medical facility's structure was bizarrely melting, the ceiling splitting open as if the entire institute was making way for one person.
The sky was brilliant. A long-haired woman in a clean white robe walked upon the flowing bricks of the building—profound magic, terrifying arts, and powerful control.
She did not descend, but stood above, her gaze locked on Wang Jiu, as if investigating or waiting for something.
She was beautiful, but also terrifying.
Her terrifying power overshadowed her beauty, just as Saling's formidable medical prowess overshadowed her own cold elegance.
This woman was none other than…
The Young Prince hid behind Feng Liao and muttered, "Suo Nu?"
The Empire's number one socialite, its greatest beauty.
But also a universally acknowledged powerhouse.
What was she doing here?
The Young Prince seemed to realize something and suddenly darted out, trying to block Wang Jiu. "Ma Lisu is fine! She wasn't devoured! You-you-you-you don't do anything!"
Suo Nu glanced at the Young Prince and smiled. "Your Highness is overthinking things. I just came to have a look."
No, you didn't just come to have a look. You're here on my father's orders, ready to execute her!
If Ma Lisu shows even the slightest trace of the Black Witch Spirit King when she wakes up… The Young Prince suddenly panicked and couldn't help but howl, "Ma Lisu, wake up! Don't sleep! If you wake up, I'll give you any clothes, cosmetics, or jewelry you want!!"
After a pause, the Young Prince added, "I can even give you the most expensive mechas. You can have as many as you want!"
Everyone was speechless. A slacker, simple, sweet, and naive, a profligate son?
Just then, Saling suddenly felt a tug on her sleeve. Startled, she turned her head to see Wang Jiu, who had woken up.
She coughed, weak and exhausted. One hand clutched Saling's sleeve while the other massaged her head as if in great pain. But she sat up, looked around, her beautiful brows furrowing slightly. She released her grip, pressing her hand on the platform to support herself. She didn't look at Saling, nor at Suo Nu. Her gaze, soft as water, settled on the Young Prince.
"Really? You're not just teasing me, are you?"
Saling suddenly had a feeling—this woman had achieved her medical objectives, and she herself was probably useless to her now.
But the Young Prince was different.
He had money. Lots and lots of money.
And power.
Saling: "…"
Wang Jiu was still very weak and was sent to a rest room. Saling prescribed some potions for her and had an assistant arrange it. As she recorded the data, her expression was cold.
"How do you feel now?"
"A little cold."
"I'll have someone get you some hot water. Drinking it directly is most effective."
"?"
Wang Jiu looked up at Saling. "Why do I feel like you're a bit fierce right now?"
Saling glanced at her. "Feels good to use someone and then toss them aside, doesn't it?"
"I didn't toss you. Didn't I just grab your sleeve?"
Saling: "Mm, thank you."
Oh, so you placate the foolish Young Prince with one hand while still holding onto the doctor you're done using.
You truly are a master of social management who bestows her favor equally.
Saling's thanks were dripping with sarcasm. Wang Jiu let out a low laugh.
Snap. Saling closed her datapad, shot her a cold glare, and turned to leave.
After Saling came out, she saw Suo Nu looking at the data. In the end, Suo Nu hadn't made a move. She had descended, her hands clasped within her wide sleeves. Her aura wasn't that of a Chinese immortal, but rather a Western kind of transcendence.
Noble and gentle, yet distant.
"Permanent spirit power damage?"
She turned and asked Saling.
Saling: "When it comes to insight, you're stronger than me. Do you need my secondary confirmation?"
She had no personal relationship with the only daughter of the Empire's First Duke. Their interactions were mostly professional, and their conversations rather formulaic.
"Her state can be faked, but her body can't, right?" Suo Nu wasn't deliberately finding fault with Wang Jiu, but acting out of caution. However, she also knew that Saling was someone who kept her personal and professional lives separate.
After reviewing all the data, Suo Nu discussed and confirmed a few more details with Saling.
At that moment, the "unconscious" Wang Jiu was checking her own body's condition—her real body.
After absorbing Mo Ya's Black Witch Spirit King soul, she had immediately faked her condition. As for her body… even without the Spirit Body, Saling and the others wouldn't have been able to detect anything due to the effects of the Black Witch ritual, let alone now that Mo Ya's soul had been added to the mix.
However, before the experiment, Wang Jiu had hoped that the impressive Xingyao Light Array could also detect the remnants of the Black Witch from Miao Mountain, but she was disappointed.
Mo Ya couldn't sense it, and even the Xingyao Light Array failed to detect it.
"Either it's a Black Witch Spirit King far more powerful than Mo Ya, or it's not a Spirit King."
But a Spirit Emperor.
If it was the latter, it would be absolutely terrible news for Wang Jiu.
But Wang Jiu only pondered this for a moment before quickly clearing her mind of distracting thoughts. Since she had absorbed a soul, it didn't have much effect on her attributes, as the three attributes and spirit power were related to the body and energy.
However… her HP had skyrocketed.
It had risen to twelve thousand. But this was a benefit reflected in her game attributes. Privately, her spirit power had surged, providing a terrifying boost to all her control-related abilities. If she were a Great Prophet, she could now instantly cast top-tier prophecies that she had previously struggled with.
That was the difference.
So, HP must be related to spirit power.
System: "You're a real monster. Most powerhouses with a million in every stat don't have HP as high as yours."
Wang Jiu: "If HP rises to a certain limit, a critical point, can it become a soul?"
System: "No, spirit power is spirit power, and a soul is a soul. They will never be the same, unless you break the genetic limits of a living being. Anyway, you've reached the right clearance level, so I'll tell you the truth. Why do you think those Primordial Spirits can exist independently of the game?"
Wang Jiu: "Maybe because the game hadn't been created yet during the Primordial Spirit era, but it's also possible that the game originated from the Primordial Spirits?"
Her wild guesses were, frustratingly, always close to the truth.
The System was silent for a moment before saying, "Because the birth of every Primordial Spirit is equivalent to that of a deity. To explain it using your Chinese cultural context, it was the age of gods and immortals. They are not born human; they transcend flesh and blood from birth, their souls are independent, mandated by Heaven. That's for ordinary Primordial Spirits. Among them, those who succeed in their cultivation are called Kings. And the supreme ones who create their own Daos are called Emperors, not to mention. During the Great Destruction, the Primordial Spirit Race was nearly wiped out. Only an extremely small number of Spirit Emperors and Spirit Kings escaped their fate and went into hiding. To this day, they are not encompassed by the game. In the future, even if your strength surpasses that of an average Spirit King, the fundamental difference will remain."
Wang Jiu thought for a moment. "So, the ones who destroyed the Primordial Spirit Race back then were the Eternal Night Race, and the biggest obstacle for us mortals to transcend our souls is your game?"
System: "You don't have to be so direct. Anyway, it's not like you can transcend. Humans are, after all, just humans. There has never been such a case in the entire history of Earth's four spacetimes."
Wang Jiu didn't actually have such ambitions and had just said it casually. The System, however, was very sensitive and seemed to resist the topic.
Wang Jiu began to use her surged spirit power to study skills like Spirit Body and its coordination with the Order Book. However, if she weren't on Saling's turf and under surveillance, she would have liked to test its application with mechas.
Speaking of which, practicing with the bronze-grade mecha had made her realize that there were two factors to piloting these things.
1. The body must be able to withstand it. This determines the baseline.
2. The stronger the spirit power, the higher the upper limit.
Of course, things related to technique depended on the brain. Wang Jiu had never been lacking in that department. As long as she had a channel for learning, she could at least copy, so that could be considered negligible.
A private message suddenly popped up. It was a message from Qing He.
Qing He: "Got locked up? Couldn't contact you for days."
Wang Jiu: "I've been out for several days, and I don't see you contacting me every day."
When one didn't want to state things plainly, they would use this kind of lighthearted banter to cover it up. Qing He understood that what this person had gone through was certainly not so simple, but perhaps she herself didn't care much about it. She didn't press the matter, simply initiated a trade and sent the money to Wang Jiu.
45 million gold.
She also compiled a list of the trading partners and sent it to Wang Jiu, so she wouldn't run into them in the future without knowing their background.
While Wang Jiu was busy managing her funds and ordering a mecha on the Fourth Spacetime's network, the System, after holding back for a while, finally asked.
"Ahem, back when Mo Ya was devouring you, what was that island and the Black and White Witches in your memory?"
Wang Jiu came back to her senses. "That? Something that happened when I was abroad."
She didn't elaborate.
The System guessed it probably had something to do with her biological mother. However, this person was very secretive. The more she cared about something, the less willing she was to talk about it.
Imperial Academy.
Using the identification badge the Young Prince had given her, which came with special clearance, Wang Jiu got in through the back door and became a student at the Imperial Academy. However, she never attended any classes. Instead, she spent all her time in the library, studying from both books and datapads, eating and sleeping there. She turned down the Young Prince's invitations several times, which infuriated him. Yet, he didn't dare cause a scene at the library to find her, because the library was a very solemn place, and its deans throughout history were all formidable figures. The little slacker was most afraid of these legendary, old-school academic masters, as many of them had been his teachers.
The Young Prince felt the acute frustration of being a sugar daddy who was getting played for free.
Saling, on the other hand, used her status as an academy elder to check up on Wang Jiu. She discovered that this person read all sorts of books at an incredibly fast pace, even faster than herself back in the day. Besides studying, she also used the academy's mecha practice rooms. But today, it seemed she had left the library… and gone to the Reconnaissance Institute.
In the control room of the Reconnaissance Institute, the students coming and going couldn't help but observe the woman registering her information.
"Your application is approved. One hour. If you want to extend the time after you come out, you can find me again or apply on the system. However, your card records that your spirit is currently weak. I suggest you stay for only an hour to avoid feeling unwell."
The young lady at the registration desk was exceptionally kind and gentle. Wang Jiu smiled at her and entered the control room.
Inside, Wang Jiu looked at the most high-end explorer currently available in the Fourth Spacetime and began to operate it according to the methods she had learned from datapad materials.
It felt unfamiliar, and she failed a few times, but eventually, she succeeded.
It seemed high-tech was really the way to go.
Wang Jiu looked at the precise positioning result, let out a sigh of relief, and quickly took out the most comprehensive terrain map of the Fourth Spacetime she had bought to determine its specific location.
"Desolate Ridge Star? It should be in the east, but what mountain range is this?"
Wang Jiu frowned, flipping through the map several times and using the network's star chart to pinpoint it, but she couldn't confirm the mountain range's location because Desolate Ridge Star itself was unusual.
"One of the three most dangerous unclaimed star systems in the Fourth Spacetime, constantly surrounded by desolate celestial debris, which blocks the star system's signal. No wonder my connection was intermittent before. It seems it was affected by this debris a few times."
Although this top-tier explorer could get a lock on the location, it couldn't pinpoint the exact position. Wang Jiu would have to go there herself and rely on the topography of the mountain range to make a judgment on the ground.
Wang Jiu recorded the current results and used the remaining time to explore everything else she could on Desolate Ridge Star with the explorer to the fullest extent.
After Wang Jiu had recorded all this data and reviewed it twice, she suddenly felt that something wasn't quite right.
"Why is the spatial element data so different?"
The concentration of spatial elements in the mountain range on the eastern side was several hundred times greater than in other areas?
Wang Jiu looked at the remaining twenty minutes and activated the explorer again. This time, her expression was a little off.
Because the spatial element reading at the Bloodthirsty Beast's location was now several times higher than it had been just a moment ago.
How long had it been, a few minutes?
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