ccnovels #497 - Being watched
#497 - Being watched
The two people who arrived later didn't seem to be there to help Qu Man.
While Wang Jixuan was pondering how to defeat the enemy if a fight broke out later, the two streams of light arrived in the sky together.
Qu Man put the piece of land she had lifted back in place, now with a long spear behind her.
Several charming laughs came from the air:
“Sister is so lucky! Among the six of us who established immortal cultivation sects in the mortal world, who could encounter such strange things like Sister? Each one is stable, but so boring.”
Qu Man narrowed her eyes slightly and said coldly, “Stop talking nonsense!”
Wang Jixuan looked up and saw Bai Ling'er again, the female rogue immortal with a touch of impropriety in her bones, the Sect Master of the Hundred Joys Sect in this world.
The middle-aged Daoist accompanying Bai Ling'er was Liu Kang, the Abbot of Yellow Flower Temple.
For some reason, Wang Jixuan saw a kind of… dog-like flavor in the Daoist's demeanor and expression.
Bai Ling'er and Liu Kang slowly descended on the clouds. The former's pair of peach blossom eyes fell on Wang Jixuan, sizing him up and down.
Bai Ling'er, dressed in palace attire and holding a palace fan, covered her mouth and giggled:
“Is this the Mahayana Realm Daoist friend mentioned in the letter? At first glance, he is truly fair-skinned, with rosy cheeks and very handsome. May I ask for your name, Daoist friend? Do you have a Daoist partner?”
Her eyes shone brightly.
Wang Jixuan frowned slightly and formally cupped his hands in a Daoist salute.
He was in the Mahayana Realm, and if he could survive the Heavenly Tribulation, he would be a Primordial Immortal, which was half a level higher than a Rogue Immortal.
Therefore, as long as his own safety was not threatened, he didn't actually need to be too respectful to Rogue Immortals.
Wang Jixuan said solemnly, “Junior Qin Zheng, greetings to the two seniors.”
The middle-aged Daoist Liu Kang only nodded, as a cold response.
Bai Ling'er, however, seemed to have found a treasure. She immediately descended from the clouds, took two steps forward, and wanted to help Wang Jixuan's arm.
Daoist Wang subconsciously took half a step back and stood up on his own.
Bai Ling'er blinked, smiled gently, and said softly, “I should be a few years older than you, but we are all cultivators, so there is no need to care about so-called age and lifespan. May I call you Brother Qin, and you call me Sister Bai, okay?”
Wang Jixuan sent a look of help to Mao Mo.
This fat immortal was also loyal. He jumped over directly, holding his belly, and stopped Bai Ling'er, who seemed to want to eat Wang Jixuan.
Mao Mo said with a smile, “My brother has a childhood sweetheart Daoist partner, so don't mess around!”
“Childhood sweethearts are truly enviable,” Bai Ling'er said somewhat aggrievedly, “Look at what Daoist friend is saying, you are treating me like a demon. Our Hundred Joys Sect is a famous and upright sect, just that the atmosphere within the sect is more open-minded. Everyone doesn't care who is whose Daoist partner, or whether they have one.”
The middle-aged Daoist frowned and looked at Daoist Wang.
Several thoughts flashed through Wang Jixuan's mind, and he silently retreated to Qu Man's side, whispering, “Senior Qu, let me hide here with you.”
Qu Man, who was already very unhappy with Bai Ling'er, immediately perked up when she heard this.
She stepped forward to block Wang Jixuan and said with a smile, “Brother Qin doesn't need to worry. With me here, this female demon can't touch a hair on your head.”
Bai Ling'er said with a smile, “Oh? The witch of the Myriad Bone Cave is calling me a demon? Before your Myriad Bone Cave defected to our Beast God Palace, you were almost exterminated by heroes from all walks of life in the Immortal Realm. Dare you deny it?”
Qu Man said indifferently, “That's still better than your Hundred Joys Sect, which eats people without spitting out bones!”
“Alright, alright!”
Mao Mo raised his hand with a chuckle:
“The two of you, don't start such a dispute. If it spreads, people will think you are fighting over jealousy. But my Brother Qin's appearance is indeed not bad.
“Let's first look for this kind of monster. Everyone, follow me. My shuttle has been exploring all the way, and has already gone hundreds of miles.”
Immediately, Mao Mo pointed out a cloud, holding up a few people to chase after the magic treasure shuttle.
Wang Jixuan stood honestly in the corner of the cloud.
Bai Ling'er, not knowing whether she really took a fancy to him or intentionally wanted to anger Qu Man, moved her feet towards this side before long.
Qu Man snorted coldly, directly blocked Wang Jixuan's side, and turned her back to Wang Jixuan without any hesitation.
Like an old hen protecting her chicks.
Daoist Wang couldn't help but want to laugh on the side.
He was completely indifferent to such a fairy like Bai Ling'er. After all, in terms of figure, appearance, and character, his former and current partners were several dimensions higher than Bai Ling'er.
He wasn't going to demean himself, so how could he seek such a fleeting romance?
In comparison, this Qu Man seemed to be… very easy to fool…
She had a kind of arrogance in her bones, and her own background was not bad. Although her appearance and figure could not be said to be the best, she also had her own charm.
In fact, Mao Mo was right.
The upper and lower levels of the Immortal Realm have long been solidified. Connections are more important than everything. For ordinary Mahayana Realm experts, pursuing Qu Man is indeed a shortcut.
Wang Jixuan himself had never thought of taking this path.
He still preferred to rely on himself to protect his Dao heart.
Mao Mo suddenly gave a light 'eh'.
He frowned and said, “Strange, why is my treasure spinning around here?”
He pressed down the cloud and raised his hand to point.
Everyone could see that below, under the lush swamp, a silver shuttle was spinning back and forth hundreds of feet deep. Those paths disappeared here, becoming thousands of circles of different sizes, nested inside each other.
Daoist Wang breathed a sigh of relief.
This place was still six or seven thousand miles away from his base.
The backhand prepared by Mudan had finally come in handy.
“This is not right,” Mao Mo frowned, “We have been chasing for so long, and we haven't found a single nest, only these crooked passages.”
Bai Ling'er asked, “Could it be that this is not some monster, but someone is making a fuss about nothing?”
Qu Man snorted, “If there weren't traces of a large number of monsters here, what else could it be? Why don't you go down and take a look yourself!”
“I don't want to get dirty with this earthy air.”
Bai Ling'er said charmingly:
“Senior Brother Liu has great magical powers and many magic treasures, why not help investigate?”
Liu Kang of Yellow Flower Temple, who had been silent all along, immediately raised his head and chest.
He took out a heart-piercing nail, shook it gently, and the heart-piercing nail drilled into the swamp below like a spirit snake.
“Reveal!”
Liu Kang pointed down with his sword fingers, and wisps of black energy, so weak that they could be ignored, overflowed upward from the swamp's water vapor.
Mao Mo's eyes lit up: “Demonic energy!”
“Yes,” Liu Kang said indifferently, “It seems that there are indeed some demons here, but the concealment is too perfect.”
“I propose that we search the area thoroughly, exploring the land within a radius of ten thousand miles!”
Qu Man gripped her spear:
“This Xujie is full of spiritual energy, so it is reasonable to have some demons. I have caught seven or eight golden core realm old demons before.
“They don't have cultivation methods, but they can absorb the essence of the sun and moon to cultivate. Two of them have even become quite powerful.”
Wang Jixuan frowned slightly.
Mao Mo said with a smile, “Let's not be so overbearing. Daoist friend, you just said that those old demons are only in the Golden Core realm. They don't have cultivation paths and don't recognize the number of days for cultivation. Even if they have a Nascent Soul realm, aren't they easily beheaded in front of us?”
“That's right,” Liu Kang looked in all directions, “These demons are actually not easy to deal with. Later, when we teach our disciples, we can't just let them sit in the mountain gate and cultivate bitterly.”
Bai Ling'er then said, “I also want to cultivate some small demons for the disciples to practice with.”
Wang Jixuan blinked and said, “I think what you Daoist friends said is reasonable. These demons can't become powerful. If there are only six famous sects in this world, without even a few small demons, it would be too monotonous.”
Everyone agreed.
Wang Jixuan secretly squeezed a handful of sweat.
How many Immortal Armor Insects did Mudan get? I still have to ask later.
If it doesn't work, then don't move on land. Specialize in mining on the seabed, where there are more mineral deposits than on land.
Qu Man sighed, “Oh well, maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. Later, I still have to find the hiding places of these demons to see if there are any great demons… Thank you all Daoist friends for coming to help.”
“It's a small matter, a small matter.”
Mao Mo said with a chuckle:
“It's rare for everyone to gather together. Why don't I be the host and go to the mortal dynasty to listen to music, watch dances, and drink, wouldn't that be wonderful!”
Qu Man cupped her hands and said, “I still have to go back to take care of the mountain gate, so I won't attend the banquet. Thank you Daoist friend for your kindness.”
After saying that, she glanced at Bai Ling'er, snorted coldly from her nose, and returned to her own mountain gate on the clouds.
She was probably going to continue searching everywhere.
Bai Ling'er said, “Since this Sister Qu has left, the fun is gone. I won't go to the banquet today… Brother Qin, do you live in Daoist Mao's mountain gate for a long time?”
“Ah, yes,” Mao Mo nodded, holding his belly, “He cultivates in the mountains and is diligent on weekdays.”
“Then, see you later.”
Bai Ling'er bit her lip lightly and left, twisting her slender waist.
Wang Jixuan almost gave her two middle fingers.
The middle-aged Daoist Liu Kang looked at Wang Jixuan meaningfully, as if he was warning him.
Wang Jixuan couldn't help but want to laugh.
What was this all about?
He didn't know that being handsome would have this kind of trouble. He knew he should have changed his appearance.
… …
Although the banquet didn't happen, Mao Mo still pulled Wang Jixuan to have a drink after returning to the mountain.
This Rogue Immortal from the Heavenly Evil Sect in the Immortal Realm, the founding ancestor of the Heavenly Evil Sect in the lower realm, was all about doing whatever he wanted without compromising himself. Taking advantage of these hundred years in the lower realm, he was doing everything to show off his power and do evil.
Just the beautiful concubines who appeared at the banquet, there were at least twenty of them, all of whom were beautiful women in their prime.
Wang Jixuan did not comment on this.
When an immortal puts down his status and seeks pleasure in the mortal world, he only needs to give a little bit of insignificant rewards such as elixirs and treasures to be able to be above everyone else and enjoy endless joy.
This and the fact that most Mahayana Realm cultivators spend one or two thousand years in the mortal world before ascending are the same principle.
Wang Ji Xuan had seen too much back then.
So, while Mao Mo played his games, he enjoyed the song and dance performances.
Enjoyable as it was, Wang Ji Xuan naturally didn't forget about Qu Man.
He exchanged toasts with Mao Mo for two hours, then, feigning drunkenness and declining the company of beautiful women, he returned to his cave dwelling in the Heavenly Evil Sect.
He shifted his consciousness, immediately returning to his other soul's location, and opened his eyes to shout:
"Peony!"
At this moment, the other soul was in the command center of the base, where mechanical bodies with silver-white skeletons could be seen busily working.
A faint fragrance wafted into the air, and Peony, dressed in a maid outfit, appeared before Wang Ji Xuan.
"Boss, I'm here! The energy fluctuations of that Qu Man have already been collected. I'm keeping an eye on her, so don't worry!"
"What's going on?"
Wang Ji Xuan frowned at Peony:
"Haven't I repeatedly ordered the Immortal Armor Beetles to avoid the dojos of those few fellows?"
"Eh," Peony gently pursed her lips, looking a little aggrieved. "The main thing is, too many Immortal Armor Beetles were released at the same time. I didn't pay attention for a moment. Two exploration teams got near that area, and I saw that they were still more than five hundred kilometers away at the time, so I didn't take it too seriously. Who knew this loose immortal would actually come to explore underground… Investigating even five hundred kilometers, why doesn't she just claim the entire Southern Border as her own mountain gate."
"You're still complaining!"
"Okay," Peony pouted, expressing her frustration.
Wang Ji Xuan rubbed his brow, muttering, "We need to avoid conflicts with them as much as possible. Although the base can be evacuated at any time, it hasn't been easy to develop it to this point. How many Immortal Armor Beetles do we have now?"
"Three million, six hundred and twenty-seven thousand, six hundred and three…"
"Cough!"
"Ah, now it's six hundred and nine, twelve, nineteen…"
"No, what are you doing with so many Immortal Armor Beetles?"
"Mining, of course!"
Peony answered righteously:
"The more Immortal Armor Beetles there are, the more powerful the computing cluster they form, and the more powerful the simulated tribal consciousness becomes. The speed of updating and iterating will naturally be faster.
"We've already updated to the twelfth generation. We can now produce C-level esper combat units at a low cost, and they even use spiritual energy to simulate demonic beasts for attacks.
"Besides, this number isn't really that many. I've always adhered to the principle of researching one generation, developing one generation, and recycling one generation, to avoid waste as much as possible."
Wang Ji Xuan raised his hand and rubbed his brow.
He used the immortal sense of the puppet to scan his first base, and a smile of satisfaction (and morbidity) finally appeared on the corner of his mouth.
A city had already risen from the ground.
All kinds of spires and towers sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain, making full use of every cubic space here.
After two expansions, the entire subspace had been transformed into a mechanical megacity capable of accommodating tens of millions of people. Industrial areas were everywhere, and all kinds of production lines were almost complete.
This was Peony's power.
Wang Ji Xuan could now pull out a mechanical army at any time, but if he wanted to create a fleet, the current amount of resources was enough, but production and research and development would take time.
The key was still in research and development.
This place was different from the Immortal Forbidden Zone. Situations of ship-to-ship bombardment were unlikely to occur. What was needed was damage to individual soldiers.
The weapon systems had to be completely transformed and completely upgraded.
All of this would take time.
"Next, set the destination of the Immortal Armor Beetles to the sea as much as possible, and try not to be exposed again."
"Uh, Boss, that Qu Man has activated the mountain protection array and is starting to search in circles with her immortal sense."
Peony whispered:
"We've mined a lot of minerals in the Southern Border in the past two years. Although I've done tail-cutting disposal, discerning people can see at a glance that the geology has been modified everywhere.
"What if this guy really comes knocking on our door?"
"Kill her?"
Wang Ji Xuan stroked his chin, pondering carefully.
After fighting with Fairy Linglong, he was no longer afraid of fighting loose immortals. With the current dilapidated other soul puppet, dealing with Qu Man was a piece of cake.
"Observe first, don't worry. If it really doesn't work, I'll use my main body to show up and lure her away."
"Okay!"
"Turn off your moe system for me!"
"Oh, okay, Boss is so fierce."
Wang Ji Xuan wanted to scold this puffed-up little maid a few more times, but a sense of perception suddenly arose in his heart. He immediately closed his eyes with his other soul, and his main body in the Heavenly Evil Sect opened its eyes.
He then heard a gentle call from outside the formation of his cave dwelling:
"Little Qin family brother, Sister Bai is here to see you."