Volume 5, Chapter 69 – The Team

Once he had said most of what needed saying, Bai Maoxu found a chance to call only Xu Shu, Chen Jing, and Liu Yong over, then explained the new “coordinate function” that had been added to the mechanical arm.

“Oh…” Chen Jing listened the most carefully, and even after hearing it all, she kept asking questions. “You mean that if we run into trouble we can’t handle, we can launch this ‘coordinate,’ and then the reinforcement troops will receive the signal and rush over to support us?”

“…” Bai Maoxu frowned and stared at her for a long while, then slowly nodded. “Probably… maybe… that’s more or less what you mean.”

?

The three people facing him all had question marks written across their faces.

Either it was, or it wasn’t. What did “probably” and “maybe” even mean?

Was this the kind of thing that could be answered with a maybe?

They were just about to press further when the others noticed what was going on here. Thinking something had happened, they started gathering around, so Bai Maoxu immediately cut off the explanation and kept urging them to get moving.

Something was off.

Xu Shu studied Bai Maoxu’s face for a while. Recalling the pauses and shifts in Bai Xiang’s tone when he had first described the vanguard plan, he vaguely formed a bit of a guess about this “coordinate.”

But there was no way he could make something like that explicit right now. He planned to wait until after they set out, then find a chance to discuss it in detail with Chen Jing and Liu Yong that night when they made camp.

Thus, once the ten-man squad had assembled, they boarded a small flying vessel under Xu Shu’s lead. It dove straight into a black rift from the little plaza outside the laboratory, and when it came back out, the land below had already turned into a barren wilderness.

“So fast.” A pretty young girl with a bun hairstyle leaned against the window and sighed in amazement.

“Even though this isn’t my first time riding one, it feels just as mysterious every time, like we tore open the void and shifted here in an instant… We’re outside the city now, right?”

Tore open the void?

The moment they heard those words, Liu Yong and Chen Jing thought of the “coordinate function” at once, even without Xu Shu pointing it out.

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That was right. It was being implied that reinforcements would come, but so far there had been no sign at all of Maozhou mobilizing military strength on a large scale. Not to mention that they were facing two mixed armies of voidfiends. What size army would it take to contend with something like that out in the wild?

A regular army definitely could not do it. But if it were an exception, then not long ago they had already seen someone personally demonstrate what it meant for one person to be an army, what it meant to crush the age with one person’s power alone.

So could this “coordinate function” possibly be…?

The two exchanged glances, then both raised their mechanical arms and carefully ran their hands over them. For no reason at all, the prosthetics in their possession suddenly felt much heavier, as though some invisible weapon of slaughter had been stored inside them.

“We’re definitely outside the city.” Someone nearby answered the bun-haired girl, his tone faintly disdainful. “What’s so special about this? Right now all it can do is shift us outside the city. If you want to leave Maozhou, you still have to fly a ways. If you’d ridden a flying vessel ten years ago, you’d understand how far one jump could take you back then.”

The one speaking, was his name Guo Feng?

The bun-haired girl was Chang Ling. Liu Yong knew her. But as for Guo Feng, he had only heard the name before. Supposedly, he was also one of the Dao’s newly risen geniuses, except his personality was somewhat arrogant, and the way he spoke easily offended people.

Seeing him today, the reputation really was well deserved. This was only his first sentence, and he was already covertly mocking his companion for being a country bumpkin.

“Junior Brother Guo Feng!” Someone behind him immediately stood up and rebuked him with a stern face. “How can you speak to Junior Sister Chang Ling like that? You’re fellow disciples, not enemies. Apologize now!”

“I don’t think I’m wrong.” Guo Feng hugged his longsword and turned his head aside, muttering, “Hmph… The fact that she could say something like that proves she hasn’t done even the most basic research. She doesn’t even know the common knowledge that space is more stable now, traversing the void is harder than before, and traversal distances are shorter. If something really happens, how can anyone count on her?”

As soon as those words came out, the girl named Chang Ling immediately went pale. The others who heard him, including Xu Shu, all frowned as well.

What he said was harsh, but the reasoning really was sound.

There were only ten people in the team, stripped down to the barest possible minimum. A group of this size was supposed to be made up entirely of elites, with every person capable of handling a front on their own. So everyone had to possess enough professional knowledge and combat awareness. At the very least, no one could afford to fall short on basic understanding.

For example, if they ran into an emergency later and needed to use the vessel to escape, and no one else could spare a hand so Chang Ling had to pilot it, she might think setting the engraved plate to a certain value would let them traverse to a certain location, when in reality it would not take them anywhere near that far. If that happened, they would have a serious problem on their hands.

“After Junior Sister Chang Ling was confirmed to be a genius, her family’s circumstances improved quite a bit,” Chen Jing whispered beside Xu Shu. “Maybe… she’s gotten a little lax over the past year or two.”

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Improved quite a bit.

Was it really only “quite a bit”?

Xu Shu’s brows drew tightly together.

He could practically picture it already. Countless great clans and noble families had surely gone out of their way to support Chang Ling’s relatives. Her family could rise straight into prosperity on the strength of her identity as an inner sect disciple alone. Even families that had produced Watchmen would look on them with envy.

It was easy to imagine that anyone immersed in that kind of treatment would not merely become “a little” lax over the years. That was why the humble, eager-to-learn Junior Sister Chang Ling in his memories had become such a stranger.

A sudden understanding dawned on Xu Shu. He felt this might be why Bai Xiang had told him to bring along more disciples from a broader range of backgrounds.

The Dao Lord had not merely wanted the group’s levels staggered. He wanted him, or better yet everyone else, to clearly see what kinds of changes might happen to people they had once known well, once they were corroded and washed over by certain things.

While he stood here worrying and pondering, the discussion behind him did not stop.

Among the “new faces,” Zhang Donglai and Zhu Sheng were obviously centered around Liu Yong, staying gathered at his side the whole time.

The young man who had rebuked Guo Feng earlier was named Lu Zheng. He was clearly the sort of person with a powerful sense of justice, someone who wanted to step in whenever he saw something he could not stand.

Of the two remaining people, one was named Dai Jichang. He was the oldest disciple among this batch of inner sect members, already in his thirties. The other was Bai Changze, who was also in his twenties. Ever since joining the team, the former kept watching with a constant smile, while the latter remained silent the entire time.

At a moment like this, it was Zhu Sheng who once again displayed his “social butterfly” side. He snapped open his little fan, offered a few words of persuasion here and a few there, and before long soothed the resentment on both sides. Then the group officially began discussing the tracking plan.

“The Qingyun army is a major force. Under its command are not only the Eclipsing Moon Demon King, but also many other hard bones like the Bloodthirst Demon King, the Wind-Howl Demon King, and the Mountain-Shaking Demon King,” Guo Feng said coldly.

“Every one of those monsters is comparable to a Golden Core cultivator. It’ll be very difficult to investigate the two voidfiend forces while they’re guarding the area. We’d better proceed cautiously.”

“I don’t think there’s any need to be afraid.” Lu Zheng immediately voiced a different opinion. “We’re the vanguard. The vanguard’s job is to scout out intelligence, and when necessary we can even do it regardless of the cost. What’s more, the merging of two voidfiend armies is something extremely rare even in the past. I believe there has to be a reason behind it, and we absolutely must get close and investigate as soon as possible!”

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“Easy for you to say.” Guo Feng sneered. “But among us, only Senior Brother, Senior Brother Liu Yong, and Senior Sister Chen Jing are in the Golden Core Realm. Everyone else is just at the False Core stage, and some haven’t even begun comprehending the mysteries of gathering the medicine. With a lineup like this, if the Qingyun army spots us, we’re dead meat. Don’t tell me you want to start running on the very first day?”

“Guo Feng, you!”

“That’s enough!” Xu Shu stood up, cutting off the others’ argument. “I chose all of you because I value your talent and potential, and because I felt this trial would be a rare opportunity for you. I did not bring you here so you could bicker with your tongues!”

In the end, he was no longer that refined young man from years ago. Having spent many years in the position of Senior Brother, he had long since built up an imposing presence. The moment he brought it out, he immediately cowed the group, and even Guo Feng lowered his head in front of him.

“Jichang, Changze.” Xu Shu looked toward the two older disciples. “Do either of you have any thoughts?”

“I’ll follow whatever Senior Brother decides.” Dai Jichang was still all smiles as he spoke.

But Bai Changze, that “mute gourd,” unexpectedly opened his mouth.

“According to the public data released by the research institutes, this year’s average void-stability value is between 8 and 9 on the scale.”

“But that’s only an average. The specific value fluctuates depending on whether there are void secret realms nearby.”

“And from Zhennan Circuit all the way to the outer perimeter of Maozhou, within three hundred li, there are no void secret realms at all. That means the void in this region should be relatively stable.”

“We can make several more traversals within that distance. After we pass the three-hundred-li perimeter outside Maozhou, we can decide how to traverse based on the most recent exploration records on file.”

Hm?

The others froze. A bright light even flashed in Guo Feng’s eyes.

He stared at Bai Changze. “That’s not the kind of experience a housebound disciple like us should have. Did someone in your family return after serving in the army?”

“You could say that.” Bai Changze frowned, looking unwilling to go deeper into the topic.

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He turned to Xu Shu. “Please make the decision, Senior Brother.”

“There’s no need. Your suggestion is very good.” Xu Shu nodded to him, then said to the others, “I’ll give you five minutes to rest a bit. Five minutes from now, we keep jumping. We’ll do our best to get onto their tail within three days.”

“Brother Liu Yong, for a direct disciple, you don’t seem to have much status…” Zhang Donglai poked Liu Yong from the side.

“Keep your voice down.” The corner of Liu Yong’s mouth twitched slightly.

Zhang Donglai could be said to have the weakest cultivation among everyone present. He had only barely broken through to the False Core stage because, after Liu Yong became “crippled,” Liu Yong gave him the resources he had received to consume.

He could tell that Guo Feng actually had quite a problem with Zhang Donglai, vaguely regarding him as dead weight.

And he also had another feeling. Every single one of those “fresh faces,” whether Chang Ling, Guo Feng, Lu Zheng, or Dai Jichang, harbored a faint disgust toward him.

Bai Changze gave him that feeling most sharply. That kid hardly bothered to hide his contempt for Liu Yong at all, always narrowing his eyes at an angle as he sized him up.

Now was not the right time to do anything.

Liu Yong chose to endure it in silence.

He would see later.

He had not fought for many years. Although losing his hands and feet had left him unable to improve any further, his foundations were still there. There would definitely be a chance for him to show what he could do.

Xu Shu’s gaze swept across their faces. He nodded, then went back to take control of the flying vessel again.

And so, the flying vessel continued darting through the wilderness.

When the time limit arrived, a distortion appeared ahead of them. Another long, narrow crack emerged, and in one gulp it swallowed the vessel whole.