In the end of the world, I become an immortal alone

#287 - Wake up time!

Fu Jian wearily put down the document in his hand.

Even after taking the latest pills sent by Wang Jixuan, being awake for several days and nights straight had overloaded Fu Jian's brain.

He needed to rest for a few hours now.

If there weren't enough terrifying mecha pilots stationed at D2, he might have to go to the front lines to fight, so he had to recover to full strength.

"Commander-in-chief," an adjutant asked from the side, "There's another online meeting. Should we connect? It's ready."

Fu Jian yawned, "What's it about?"

"Initiated by the D2 Commander-in-chief, a front-line general dispatch meeting."

"Connect it. Postpone the meetings after that for me for now."

"Yes."

A projection screen popped out from Fu Jian's mechanical arm. He raised his hand and operated it a couple of times, supplying his brain with a little stimulant.

The light and shadows in front changed, and a three-dimensional projection constructed a virtual meeting room. Fu Jian and two other theater commanders-in-chief appeared in the main seats.

Facing them was a sand table, displaying dense information.

In the upper left corner of the meeting room, a blood-red index just jumped upwards, from 87% to 88%.

The D2 Commander-in-chief laughed and cursed in a hoarse voice:

"Those damn Bladebeasts, the degree of awakening didn't increase for the previous three days. I even thought the Pillar Bladebeast had been suppressed by the dormancy circuit again."

"Didn't expect it to pick up again."

The D4 Commander-in-chief then said, "The underground blasting effect is very poor. The shallowest location of the Pillar Bladebeast's dormancy is five or six thousand meters from the surface. The sixth pillar is surrounded by a massive number of Bladebeasts, and even more Bladebeasts are drilling out from underground. They've also been constantly breeding these years."

Fu Jian said, "That Gari Nuo came to the Black Storm, demanding that we surrender to them, but the Black Storm refused."

"Are there any preferential treatments for surrendering?"

"There are preferential treatments, which is that they won't kill us anymore, but there's no guarantee. The Bladebeasts want the core circuits of the spirit cultivators to destroy them, which will release the twelve pillars."

"Those trash!"

Fu Jian curled his lip, "Hurry up and start the meeting. I need to sleep for a while."

"Give them access permissions."

The virtual meeting room quickly gained more than a dozen generals in charge of logistics.

They began to have a heated discussion about the mobilization of front-line resources. Cross-theater resource integration meant arguments, even quarrels, were inevitable.

No one wanted their own side to suffer too much of a loss.

These kinds of arguments would pass after the bickering. At most, they would grumble a few words behind their backs about a certain minister being stingy, but it wouldn't affect the surface harmony.

As they were arguing, they suddenly realized that Fu Jian had closed his eyes and hadn't moved for a long time.

"Is Commander-in-chief Fu asleep?"

"Keep it down, keep it down."

"Screenshot for posterity."

"Kick Lao Fu out! He's still sleeping in a meeting even at his age! He should retire!"

The D4 Commander-in-chief said jokingly. The meeting continued, but no one moved Fu Jian out of the meeting room.

For some reason, as long as he was here, everyone would have more confidence.

… …

[Time until the Sixth Pillar awakens: 60 hours].

"I'm going to the front lines to prepare for battle today."

In the seventh floor's morning light of Fortress 76, Ling Tong said gently, straightening Wang Jixuan's short shirt collar.

The Daoist was visibly stunned for a moment, "Which front lines?"

"It's our D5's front lines, not D2's."

Ling Tong sounded somewhat helpless as she said this:

"The application report I submitted was to go to D2 to provide support. Our Seven Star Sword Formation should be able to play a big role, but it was rejected.

"Rest assured, I'm the Storm Madam in their eyes now, and they won't let me go to any dangerous places. This time, I'm going to replace a second-generation mecha. That officer will go to D2 to provide support."

Storm Madam?

Wang Jixuan liked this title.

He lowered his head and hugged Ling Tong.

The time they had spent together, the exploration of the Human Desire Dao, and the advancement of the dual cultivation techniques had allowed him to feel a kind of emptiness and reality he had never experienced before, and the confusion between the two was probably the happiness that ordinary people pursued.

The Daoist asked, "How are everyone's emotions now? Are they leaning towards depression or towards positivity?"

"They're still considered positive, probably," Ling Tong closed her eyes and listened to Wang Jixuan's heartbeat, "Except for a very small number of second-generation mecha, everyone hasn't really faced a Pillar Bladebeast before. Seeing those images is only the situation of super-large cities being destroyed during the Golden Age. Tension is inevitable after all."

Wang Jixuan's palm felt the smoothness of her long hair and the exquisite curves of her back.

"Don't overthink it. Combat readiness is also a mission. The Seven Star Sword Formation has already been promoted in the semi-human mecha units. There are eight people in your semi-human mecha group in total."

"I want to participate in the war," Ling Tong was a little depressed, "We modified ourselves and constantly trained. Isn't it all to wait for this day? This is contrary to the educational philosophy I've received since I was a child."

"Don't make me worry."

"Okay, you too. I will obey orders and do a good job in border security."

Ling Tong looked up at Wang Jixuan. Their eyes met. Barefoot, she slightly tiptoed and blocked the man's subsequent instructions with her warm lips.

She didn't like nagging.

Wang Jixuan actually wanted to say that he had just changed his clothes… Well then, taking advantage of the time before parting, dual cultivating well wouldn't be bad either.

Three hours later.

Wang Jixuan stood with his hands behind his back at the elevator entrance of the underground airport on the third floor of the fortress, watching Ling Tong, dressed in military uniform, jump onto a transport plane.

She turned her head and waved, like a canary leaving its cage.

Wang Jixuan responded with a smile, but sighed slightly in his heart.

Recently, in between his cultivation and refining, the Daoist was also thinking about 'emotion' besides 'desire'. His combination with Ling Tong was very perfect. The two were very compatible no matter which point you looked at.

But the Daoist could feel her desire for the battlefield.

In the relationship between the two, Wang Jixuan was the one who occupied the absolutely dominant side. His opinions could directly affect Ling Tong's judgment, whether directly or indirectly. Wang Jixuan's value made the D5 war zone subconsciously want to protect Ling Tong, a warrior, to ensure that this relational bond could be maintained for a long time.

'Will she be happy if this goes on for a long time?'

Wang Jixuan was a little worried.

Naturally, he wouldn't avoid eating for fear of choking. He wouldn't deliberately ask Lao Fu to arrange some dangerous missions for Ling Tong just because he was afraid that Ling Tong wouldn't have a place to grind experience.

Her safety was of course the first priority.

'Forget it… I need to hurry up and work on the Demon Suppression Tower. The current progress is still too slow. The awakening degree of the Pillar Bladebeast is starting to grow wildly again.'

'That Gari Nuo is really a man of his word.'

'It's also pretty good to let the Bladebeasts kill each other more.'

The Daoist shook his head with a smile and turned back to the seventh floor.

The Buddhist Hall Squad was busy in the courtyard, each responsible for a small part of the inscription.

Mu Dan led the maid corps to help, carrying huge Bladebeast exoskeletons back and forth with their slender mechanical arms.

The second batch of trained students had returned to the front lines to spread what they had learned within a limited time, improve the strength of the spirit practitioners, and select the next batch of front-line spirit practitioners to send to receive training.

'Hopefully, it's in time.'

Wang Jixuan had his main body sit in the corner to cultivate, and the battle puppet started operating in sync.

… …

[Time until the Sixth Pillar awakens: 46 hours].

"Teacher, I also want to go to the front lines to fight the pillars…"

Chi She maintained her human form, lying weakly by the window on the second floor of the workshop, watching the crowd below working enthusiastically.

Wang Jixuan was fiddling with a section of the spire. Hearing this, he looked up at Chi She and smiled, "Do you miss the deep sea?"

"Their team, except for Ling Tong, has gone to the vicinity of the Ninth Pillar to be on guard. I don't want to go looking for him!"

Chi She clutched a bottle of industrial additive mixed beverage, sighing and complaining:

"I want to go to D2… It's said that 15% of humanity's military force has been stockpiled there! Two of the three space fortresses have adjusted their orbits and are on duty 24 hours a day!

"I guess I'll only be able to encounter this kind of big scene once in my life!"

"That's not necessarily true."

Mu Dan responded with a smile:

"According to Five, all the Pillar Bladebeasts will probably wake up one after another in six years."

The corners of Chi She's mouth twitched slightly, "So the four words 'seize the day' definitely contain the ultimate truth of life!"

Zheng Shiduo said unhappily, "Our Deep Sea Bro has lost several pounds in the past few days!"

"That's not true! I didn't! Don't talk nonsense or I'll beat you up!"

Zheng Shiduo chuckled.

Lao Zheng really didn't dare to provoke Chi She now. Wu Man and Ji Xiao couldn't understand Chi She's current strength at all.

Wang Jixuan said simply, "Chi She, if you have nothing to do, go help transport supplies, or transcribe the Heart Cleansing Mantra three hundred times."

"Teacher, I have something to do! I'll go help Xiaohua Ting clean!"

Chi She quickly slipped away.

Wang Jixuan smiled wryly.

This elder sister, cough, now Chi She is his registered disciple. He can't call her elder sister anymore.

Little Chi She is really lively.

If a great war breaks out this time, he doesn't know if her appearance on the battlefield will cause a shock to the Bladebeasts…

Mu Dan suddenly called out, "Sir! One of your best friends has sent a communication request!"

"Connect it."

"Yes."

Mu Dan's little finger, with a magnetic halo, flew in front of Wang Jixuan. The light intertwined to create a small projection screen, with Zhou Zhengde's half-length portrait inside.

Buzz.

"Are you busy?" Zhou Zhengde asked.

"Just say what you need. Pills or crystal core weapons?"

"It's not those," Zhou Zhengde laughed, "Although you can never have too many of those, Mu Dan said you're preparing secret weapons, so I won't bother you."

Wang Ji Xuan asked strangely, "You can still laugh right now? Is there some good news?"

"Heh! We've brought you something big from D2!"

Zhou Zhengde laughed heartily:

"The spire of Spiritualist Number Four! We finally dug it out and are transporting it over with a heavy transport plane! It should arrive in about half a day!"

"Now, you can play a Spiritualist!"

"That's it?"

Wang Ji Xuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Weren't all the spirit slaves inside killed by Old Sophie herself... Let's take a look when it arrives. I don't remember there being many materials inside. Maybe we can dismantle the spire."

Zhou Zhengde asked, "Send it directly here?"

"Give the spire to Shen Qionglin for research," Wang Ji Xuan said. "I don't have time to focus on it right now. We'll talk about it after we resolve the crisis of the Sixth Pillar."

"Alright, I thought you'd be excited."

Zhou Zhengde then asked:

"Can you tell me now? What is your secret weapon?"

"Not yet, because it's not finished," Wang Ji Xuan said. "Let the front lines prepare for battle normally. Don't place any hope on me. That way, I'll be more relaxed."

"Understood."

"Keep two of the largest-capacity transport planes here for me, the kind that can directly deploy 20-meter-class mecha or larger, preferably fast ones."

"Okay, I'll coordinate immediately."

...

[Time until the Sixth Pillar awakens: 7 hours].

Wang Ji Xuan glanced at the latest awakening index for the Sixth Pillar. The huge '96%' made him feel a strange pressure.

Whether on the front lines or in the rear, almost everyone was on edge.

Even ordinary workers in Zhongcheng felt the severity of the current war situation due to days of almost non-stop overtime work.

"Brother Wang... Brother Wang?"

"Hm," Wang Ji Xuan snapped out of it from Zheng Shiduo's call. "What's wrong?"

"Brother Wang, our courtyard here is almost full. Should we assemble some of it first?"

"Transport it to the surface for assembly. Assemble it according to the numbering and the interlocking anti-fool connectors."

"Okay... How many floors does this ancient pagoda have in total?"

"Demon Suppressing Pagodas are usually eighteen floors. We only have three more floors to complete. I'll continue working on those three over there. You and Wu Man watch from the side during assembly."

"Okay, don't worry, Brother Wang. You should also pay attention to rest."

Wang Ji Xuan shook his head and smiled.

He really hadn't closed his eyes for a few days. After Ling Tong left, he hadn't left the construction site of the Demon Suppressing Pagoda for even a step.

Because the battle puppet and the main body could take turns meditating and cultivating, he didn't feel any fatigue at the moment.

"Let's finish it first. A little sleep before the battle will be enough."

Wang Ji Xuan instructed:

"Notify everyone that we'll set off for the front lines when the Blade Beast's awakening reaches ninety-nine percent."

"Uh," Zheng Shiduo advised, "Brother Wang, you're already the Blade Beast's target. Wouldn't going there attract too much hatred?"

"There's no choice. The method of using this thing is too complicated. I'll bring Number Five with me then."

The Daoist priest's eyes flashed with a hint of light:

"The Pillar Blade Beast is about to awaken, and Spirit Energy Capital can't wait to retreat from D2/D3.

"If this awakening of the Pillar Blade Beast doesn't have any destructive power, then they will suffer the consequences.

"Being able to make them suffer makes me feel good, so naturally I have to put in more effort."

Zheng Shiduo gave a thumbs up: "Those old perverts from Spirit Energy Capital shouldn't have provoked anyone but they had to provoke you, Brother Wang."

This isn't a question of provoking or not.

From the first time the Six Elders sent people to try to kill him, it was already an irreconcilable cause and effect.

Otherwise, there would be a bit of regret left when he ascends to the upper realm one day.

Wang Daochang remembered something and reminded, "Peony, send a message to Zhengde, telling him to pay attention to the scavenger group as much as possible if there is a large-scale upheaval next."

"Understood!"

Wang Ji Xuan held his breath and focused, continuing to carve with the magic tool carving knife.

An eighteen-story, approximately fifty-meter-high black ancient pagoda was gradually pieced together section by section in the surface military camp of Fortress 76.

...

[Time until the Sixth Pillar awakens: 0 hours].

Outside the border of the D2 Comprehensive War Zone, beneath a rift valley spanning hundreds of kilometers, densely packed, layered Blade Beasts suddenly collectively emitted a buzzing sound.

That Gari Nore, more and more like a human, raised a scepter pieced together from rare materials, spread its thin wings behind it, and let out a piercing roar from its mouthparts.

In the huge underground cavity in front, a verdant green light curtain suddenly opened, and black light spots gathered at the edge of the light curtain, rapidly condensing into a pair of pitch-black pupils.

Buzz—

Emerald green pillars of light shot out from the rift valley, and the earth began to tremble continuously!