Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 235: Establishing a New Base, Ai's Consumption

Loulan is a good place.

Located deep in the desert, it is already a place rarely visited by humans.

The power left behind by the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden further protects this city. People who approach it will experience cognitive errors, thus avoiding Loulan and heading to other places.

This ensured that Loulan would not be found through normal channels.

The only drawback is that this effect only applies to the surface; it has no effect on underground areas.

Therefore, the people of Qin were able to reach Loulan through the underground river passage.

But this problem is easy to solve. Just block all the underground passages around the area, and everything will be fine.

This is equivalent to a base that never has to worry about being invaded.

It is even safer than that nameless island base in the southern waters of the Ming Dynasty.

Various defensive lines still need to be set up around the nameless island to prevent anyone from breaking in.

However, in Loulan, there is no need to worry about such problems at all.

Therefore, it is only natural that Zhou Ming would set his sights on Loulan.

The white temple, which had been swallowed by the golden light gate, was now slowly expelled by the golden light and returned to its original position.

The palace itself is extremely ornate, entirely white, like a celestial palace.

The palace interior was also extremely luxurious, filled with endless ingenuity.

Throughout history, Loulan artisans have devoted themselves to decorating this palace with utmost devotion, doing everything in their power to make it even more magnificent.

Now, this palace belongs to Zhou Ming.

There is no throne in the temple.

Inside the main hall, which is also the most solemn and luxurious, there is only one statue of the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden.

Everyone who enters this main hall, even the high priest, must stand obediently.

However, the statue has now been removed and replaced with a throne.

Zhou Ming sat on this throne, with Jian Yue and Mo Kui beside him.

"From now on, this will be the organization's second base. What do you think?"

The Demon Lord hurriedly replied, "It is an honor for this palace to be favored by the master!"

In his heart, he thought to himself: "At least the wild beasts in the mountains spit out a couple of bones after swallowing their prey. You destroyed the entire Loulan with one move and then took over all their territory. You are even more ruthless than the wild beasts in the mountains."

In fact, by thinking this way, he was overestimating Zhou Ming's character.

Zhou Ming initially only aimed for the God of War.

The power of the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden within Xiao Li and the Pixiu were both ideas that were changed at the last minute.

Even this temple is the same.

As for Loulan, it was never within his target range from the very beginning.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have swallowed up the entire temple.

The reason was simply because he had his eye on the temple and wanted to place it in his personal space.

As for the entire Loulan, they never even considered it.

But Zhou Ming had not expected that the High Priest of Loulan would be so decisive.

Realizing that Loulan would face a water shortage crisis and eventually be swallowed by the desert sands after losing the Pixiu, they surprisingly chose to join the Qin state directly.

When Zhou Ming saw this scene, he was truly astonished.

On second thought, if all these people leave, then the territory of Loulan will be empty.
They decided to take it over and use it as a new base for the organization.

"Now that we've taken down the War God, the next step is to thoroughly study and understand its technology!"

A single demon god is basically useless.

Even in terms of combat power, Bingmoshen is by no means invincible.

In the original story, Xiao Li, after activating the power of the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden, wielded the Chi You Sword and destroyed the God of War with a single strike.

The power left behind by the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden is comparable to the third realm of a Grandmaster.

In other words, as long as one possesses the strength of a Grandmaster at the third level, coupled with a divine weapon, one can completely destroy the Demon God.

With that kind of strength, Zhou Ming could easily name more than a dozen people in the entire land of China.

The good news is that the War Demon God has a built-in healing effect, allowing it to absorb the power of nature to restore itself. So sooner or later, it will be able to return to its former strongest state.

To restore that terrifying power that allowed one to roam freely across the battlefields of the ancient era of gods and demons.

The bad news is that the current decline of the God of War is due to the Pixiu absorbing power over thousands of years.

It will probably take several hundred years to recover, even if it doesn't take several thousand years.

Therefore, Zhou Ming did not expect to be able to roam freely across the land with such a weapon.

This thing is only used as a fighting force in certain crucial moments.

Aside from that, its greatest use was being studied by Zhou Ming.

If Zhou Ming thoroughly studies the technology of the War God, he can create the War God himself.

One soldier-demon god is certainly not invincible, but if there are ten or twenty, that's even more impressive.

Or perhaps, like Chi You did back then, they could create eighty-one of them?

"But to study it thoroughly would probably be quite difficult..."

Zhou Ming said, "Xiao Ai, design a new base based on the terrain of Loulan and complete its construction as soon as possible."

Gather intelligence on all the masters of the mechanical arts, and see which ones can be recruited into the organization. Once the targets are identified, try to bring them into the organization after the construction of Loulan is completed.

"Yes." Ai nodded.

Researching the Demon God is definitely a subject that requires a lot of manpower, resources, and time.

Although Zhou Ming had already figured out the operating principle of the War God, it lay in the four words: movement, stillness, illusion, and reality.

But to think that you can create an identical or even surpass the War God based solely on these four words is simply wishful thinking.

Materials, organization, layout—each presents a challenge.

The mechanics he tried to recruit, while capable of creating all sorts of ingenious mechanisms, were unable to detect the existence of the power of heaven and earth.

Therefore, he alone is the only one who can study this issue.

Unfortunately, he was almost completely clueless in this area.

The only jade tablet in his possession that is related to this has only deciphered the first few layers so far, and he has not yet reached the true core.

"If only... there were relevant books for me to study..."

Zhou Ming thought.

And he also had a goal in his heart.

Water Moon Cave!

The place where the Tong family lived in seclusion!
There must be a wealth of records about ancient times and the power of heaven and earth there.

If you're lucky, you might even find the Dragon God Technique.

However, no one has yet emerged from Shuiyue Cave. Not to mention him, even Yin Zhong couldn't find a single clue.

"Xiao Ai, how's the situation at Yujian Manor?"

Xiao Ai's eyes flickered slightly, and a series of images appeared in her eyes. She then said, "After the New Year, Yin Zhong once again proposed that Yin Hao step down and give way to Yin Tianqi. Yin Hao has been persuaded and is currently making preparations."

There were not many people in the Yin family of Yujian Manor.

The previous generation consisted of only two people, Yin Hao and Yin Zhong, with Yin Hao being the current head of the manor. Because Yin Zhong had no wife or children, the next generation consists only of Yin Hao's two children.

Eldest son, Yin Tianqi.

Eldest daughter, Yin Tianxue.

The position of manor lord will naturally be passed on to Yin Tianqi in the future.

Yin Tianqi is skilled in both literature and martial arts, and has a kind heart, but he is too weak in scheming, which is why Yin Hao has always been dissatisfied with him.

However, after repeated persuasion from Yin Zhong, he finally decided to step down this year.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ming laughed and said, "That's wonderful!"

Yin Hao's abdication marks the beginning of the Water Moon Cave storyline.

The Tong clan, who have been living in seclusion in the Water Moon Cave for hundreds of years, will emerge at this time.

If Zhou Ming pays close attention to this matter, he will be able to obtain the specific spatial location of the Water Moon Cave. Then, he will be able to directly reach the interior of the Water Moon Cave using his own abilities.

To avoid a butterfly effect, Zhou Ming didn't even allow Xiao Ai to develop an organization in the ancient Shu Kingdom.

"It will probably be several more months before Yin Hao abdicates. Therefore, we should first plot our second target… the Qin state!"

Among the documents and records that the Qin state seized, which originally belonged to the Zhou royal family, there must have been some records about ancient times and the power of heaven and earth.

Compared to Shuiyue Cave, things were much simpler in the Qin Kingdom.

The location of those documents and records has already been determined. Zhou Ming will open a portal and spread a few marks there. He should be able to copy all those documents and records very quickly.

"Besides that, I have a third goal... to search for clues throughout the entire land, to find those lost ancient books, and even some other ancient clans that, like the Tong clan in the Water Moon Cave, also live in seclusion!"

According to the history of this world, the Shang Dynasty, which preceded the Zhou Dynasty, was an era in which the king and the priests jointly ruled the world.

The king commands all the armies of the realm.

The sacrificial family controls faith and people's hearts.

The Shang Dynasty collapsed because of a fierce conflict between King Zhou and the priestly families.

It's impossible that all these sacrificial families were wiped out; there must have been some remnants.

If they could be found and their legacy obtained, it would also broaden Zhou Ming's knowledge.

However, achieving this goal will likely require Ai Haibara to exert a great deal of effort.

"All tasks have been set up, but with the current computing power, we must make some trade-offs, or perhaps..."

Ai's eyes gradually lit up: "Increase the energy supply quota!"

"This one……"

Zhou Ming couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Ai's computing power is unparalleled; the only problem is that she needs to use Perfect Qi as an energy source.

However, Zhou Ming's perfect energy can only be generated once a day, and its uses are diverse, so the perfect energy that can be given to Xiao Ai as an energy source is really limited.

Limited energy means that Ai's computing power is also limited.

"Hey Ai, how was your cultivation of true qi going?"

"It's not that great."

Xiao Ai shook her head: "The quality of true qi is far lower than that of perfect qi. On average, after a year, the true qi of the innate stage is only about one ten-thousandth of the effect of a perfect qi. The innate true qi is about five ten-thousandths, and the grandmaster true qi is about two thousandths."

"Is it that low?"

Zhou Ming frowned: "What about the power of heaven and earth?"

"The power of heaven and earth that has not been condensed by a Grandmaster is approximately one ten-thousandth of the total power per cubic meter..."

The power of heaven and earth lies in its vastness and its ability to be repeatedly utilized.

Calculating only one cubic meter of the power of heaven and earth is naturally far less than the true qi that a martial artist has painstakingly cultivated for decades.

This can also be seen as a limitation of the martial arts world.

If the power of heaven and earth were abundant, what would be the point of playing martial arts games? The whole world would probably have already developed in the direction of immortals and heroes.

"The energy level of Perfect Qi is actually this high?"

You don't know until you compare, and once you do, Zhou Ming was quite shocked.

"Moreover, with such a high density of energy, Ai absorbs it every few days, yet it can barely supply the current computing power..."

Zhou Ming couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Ai, did you really use all the perfect energy you absorbed for calculations?"

Ai replied matter-of-factly, "Of course not. Besides calculations, maintaining the body's operation also takes up a portion of the time."

"I see."

Zhou Ming didn't delve into it further; technology from the future, which was countless years in the future, was beyond his current comprehension.

"In that case, temporarily set aside or transfer some less important matters to the organization members to handle, gradually reduce your computing power requirements, and shift your focus to the research on the Soldier Demon God."

As for the task mentioned earlier... keep the Qin objective, and cancel the others.

"Yes."

"In addition, do not give up on your martial arts. Persist in your practice and strive to reach the Grandmaster level as soon as possible, so that you can draw on the power of heaven and earth on your own."

"Yes."

The power of heaven and earth can be used repeatedly.

Moreover, even if one cubic meter of energy is very little, 100,000 cubic meters is equivalent to a perfect wisp of energy.

But what is a mere 100,000 cubic meters compared to the vastness of the universe?

In its previous existence, Earth's atmosphere alone comprised hundreds of billions of cubic meters.

Moreover, this world, encompassing the nine provinces and four seas, is far larger than the surface area of ​​Earth in my previous life.

One hundred thousand cubic meters is roughly the power of heaven and earth within a radius of several tens of feet.

Not much.

If Ai Haibara cultivates to become a Grandmaster on her own, drawing upon the power of heaven and earth to sustain herself, then her computational power will undergo a great liberation.

"Then let's proceed according to this plan for now."

Zhou Ming gave the order.

The organization has now developed into a considerable size and, under Ai's leadership, has demonstrated extremely strong capabilities.

In just half a month, Loulan completed a certain scale of construction.

At the very least, it no longer looks like the ruins it once was.

Between two mountain peaks outside the city, the Demon God of War stood.

The bridge built between the two mountain peaks ends on the shoulder of the God of War.

A group of recruited mechanics are engrossed in their research.

Most of these mechanics were from the Mohist school, especially the Qi and Chu Mohists. With the fall of the states of Qi and Chu, they lost their homes but did not want to submit to the Qin state, so they could only wander around.

A large portion of them were incompetent, some even lacking the ability to earn a living, yet they immediately agreed to join the organization after being recruited.

"Most of those skilled mechanics are well-off and have no worries about food and clothing. It will take some thought and time to recruit them."

Ai said.

Zhou Ming nodded, indicating his understanding: "Once we recruit those people, how long will it take to figure out the God of War?"

"At least thirty years, at most... indefinite!"

(End of this chapter)