Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 214 Sky City

When the winged people on the ground described the stardust where their royal family's final trial took place, they used words like "holy," "full of light," and "scattered divine feathers covering the sky."

However, after arriving here, Xuan Chong composed himself and sighed, "This place is really too dirty."

At the center of the dust cloud lies the debris of countless floating space facilities. Instead of drifting into circular orbits along the planet's normal paths, this debris has accumulated steadily in one place, drifting haphazardly, ranging from tiny dust particles to large chunks of junk.

Xuan Chong: This is like a large amount of plastic waste entering the Pacific Ocean and gathering into floating islands in windless areas. Fish and sea turtles don't feel dirty because plankton grow on the floating garbage, adding some nutrients to the barren ocean, but humans can immediately see that this is the mess they created.

The winged people describe this place as "sacred" because it is an environment where uncorroded metal dust scatters white light under the sunlight of outer space.

However, the entire Heavenly Palace base was protected by a layer of luminous energy, completely blocking the light of the evil moon from the outside. This protective mechanism was something that the Nine Palaces of Yaodu did not possess.

Xuan Chong must cover his mouth and nose when he sees this, otherwise the dust entering his lungs will cause cancer.

Xuan Chong tried to unleash his malevolent energy, and it seemed as if a force field appeared around him, pushing away large amounts of dust like peppercorns spreading in soup. Xuan Chong paused slightly and muttered, "Malevolent energy is a force field?"

Xuan Chong arrived at the very center, looked at the three-meter-high metal door, and then looked up at the fifty-seven cameras on either side of the door. These cameras were scanning and identifying him.

As Xuan Chong pondered whether to enter a "six-digit password" or "Open Sesame," several images that needed to be arranged and combined appeared on the gate.

Xuan Chong glanced at it: the first set of images required arranging three squares according to the Pythagorean theorem. He then completed it.

The first gate opened, and Xuan Chong was blocked by the second force field after entering. The second challenge was in this force field, where a large number of blocks appeared, requiring a matching game.

After the initial impact, the force field opens, followed by another force field, and then the third challenge: Tetris. This level tests planning skills and quick reflexes.

Xuan Chong: "Wow, this space station even has 'brain-training games and exams'."

Note: The secret texts of those kingdoms and winged races all record such trials and techniques for passing through the Holy Land. However, neither Storm City nor Griffin City informed Xuan Chong. Of course, Xuan Chong's cultural level was far superior to that of those illiterate people.

As Xuan Chong entered the zone, his hand moved incredibly fast across the force field when the Tetris blocks reached a speed of eight per 0.1 seconds, leaving afterimages. The force field disappeared, and this phase of the assessment ended.

Just as Xuan Chong decided to wait for the next question, the force field indicated a rapid jump. It showed that the fourth and fifth questions were skipped, and they would proceed directly to the 180th question. At the same time, the force field delivered a package.

The package contained organic blocks rich in carbohydrates and lipids, clearly designed to take into account the explosive power of the test takers and the significant loss of their physical strength.

Xuan Chong didn't chew the supplies; he ate the nutrient blocks he had brought with him. Looking at the 180th question, Xuan Chong paused: Some molecular models floated in front of him. The instructions suggested selecting models to "stick together," ultimately forming a large molecular compound that could stably exist in an environment mixed with hydrogen, chloride, and fluoride ions.

Xuan Chong paused for a moment, then remembered that he had a system, so he asked the system, "Hey, system, calculate the protein structure for me."

System: "Sorry, calculators are not allowed in this class. Please handle this on your own. Also, this is a history class, so don't try to stump your teacher with physics or chemistry problems."

Xuan Chong was prepared for such a response; it was just a casual question.

After a while, Xuan Chong presented his mediocre design. The question setter scanned it for a period of time before finally awarding the score: 63 points.

Upon seeing the score, Xuan Chong suddenly paused. How the hell did those Feather Clan members get into this space station?

Just as Xuan Chong was wondering, the original assessment force field was removed.

After the force field disappeared, Xuan Chong suddenly realized that each force field blockade corresponded to a passage! And since his answers might be different from those of the Feather Clan, he skipped the previous passages.

Xuan Chong looked at the worn-out entrance of this passage; it was very new, so no one should have walked through it.

Xuan Chong saw the creaking and turning modified frames in the other passages and suddenly remembered what Kau had said about the legend that entering the Holy Land would result in being given a "Holy Mark". Xuan Chong realized what the "Holy Mark" was. Implantation and modification, leaving wounds, isn't that what the Holy Mark is?

Xuan Chong immediately tensed up. He couldn't accept being forcibly genetically modified. In his previous life, he couldn't even stand a blood draw or an injection. Let alone an ambiguous surgery. He was ready to open his folding space, put on his combat mech, and blast them to smithereens at the slightest provocation.

Just as Xuan Chong's entire body formed a protective force field with his evil aura and his body's nano liquid completed its restraint and protection.

The passage seemed to sense tension as well. A teardrop-shaped device appeared in the space ahead, like a projector, aimed at Xuan Chong, scanned him, and then printed a diamond-shaped energy mark directly in front of him.

Xuan Chong paused slightly, suddenly feeling a wave of dizziness wash over him, as if a powerful surge of information was about to flood his head. Just as Xuan Chong began to doubt whether he had messed things up...

The system appeared and skipped a line of text: "Thought Filtering Device Activated, 1.5 Credits Consumed."

Having averted the crisis, Xuan Chong suddenly saw the system activate and breathed a sigh of relief. However, when he saw that it would consume 1.5 credits, his lips twitched, and he muttered, "Isn't this a bit too much?"

…System message (small print): Enchanted spirit detected, has been neutralized…

Like the Chi You army, this space station also has a "spirit" (artificial intelligence). Her response to the intelligent life that arrives here is to "tailor her approach to the situation."

Once ordinary Winged Race members arrive here, they will most likely pass four or five tests in the previous trials, at most the tenth. At that time, they will be given a set of genetic modifications, energy infusion, and a mechanical chip inserted before being sent back to the ground as a coordinate device for the high-altitude palace to be calibrated on the ground.

However, Xuan Chong, in the recent series of tests, has been verified not only to meet the standard of "communicating with intelligent life," but also to possess a professional pilot system. This space station implants advanced energy chips in its pilots; in the words of cultivators below, this is called a "second primordial spirit."

The space station's own "intelligent system" (spirit) seemed to react somewhat strongly upon seeing the "advanced immortal weapon" equipment on Xuan Chong's body. It hurriedly accelerated the process of the "second primordial spirit," and the two sides completed verbal communication.

Compared to the mechanical chips implanted in the brain tissue of those winged races, Xuan Chong's planetary-level "energy chip" is worlds apart, a difference between the ruling class and the slave class.

According to the faction behind the Celestial Palace, the "chip" that Xuan Chong obtained is an identity badge that allows him to travel freely in this star sector.

However, the dimensional school system does not recognize the scores given to Xuan Chong by the creations left behind in this plane.

The school maintenance system: The "physical" standard in "morality, intelligence, physical education, aesthetics and labor" is the supreme and sacred standard for healthy development in the natural human stage, and it is not allowed to be implanted beyond the level.

If any remnants left by other time travelers attempt to illegally interfere with the "students," the "teacher" will notify the "security" system to take action.

…Classroom discipline…

At the very center of the space station is a female figure dressed in a dark blue dress. She is the "Sky Goddess" in the eyes of the Feathered Clan, who, after waiting for 20,000 years, is attempting to await a "human with all three elements." Just now, when she scanned Xuan Chong, she confirmed that his physical indicators were all "innately robust," indicating the possibility of him growing into someone with all three elements.

Xuan Chong was brought into the central control room with extremely high protocol. However, upon seeing Xuan Chong take out the "Immortal Weapon," he seemed to resist and initiated the highest level of "Divine Sense Connection."

But it was this act of acting on her own that angered a terrifying being.

From her perspective, space within this stellar region was folded. All spectra were folded pixel by pixel.

That is, the originally complex spectral bands have been compressed into 1,500 bands with fixed "energy levels".

This phenomenon, invisible to the naked eye, is, for the highly sensitive spirit of this device, a phenomenon that defies the laws of physics, well, the laws of motion.

Narrator: Photon energy levels change in discrete units. Xuan Chong's "teacher" adjusts the photon energy levels within the gravitational field of this star. And all this commotion is merely to forcibly block the infusion of information from the "energy chip."

In order to cut off interference, the "History Teacher" system directly altered the physical laws of this area.

Yes, just as students might be exposed to inappropriate information online at school, teachers simply blocked the "cell phone signal" in the area.

Immediately afterward, the "Sky Goddess" was horrified that the surrounding starry sky had been "pixelated," and then discovered that the timer in her system had also gone out of control.

The crystal timer stopped, but the atomic clock continued to tick.

However, the cesium atomic clock, hydrogen atomic clock, and rubidium atomic clock are out of sync. If one were truly an ant, one would not be able to perceive this terror; but the "Goddess of the Sky" could feel the terror of having the "Way of Heaven" grasped in an instant.

Immediately afterward, the "Sky Goddess," in a state of suffocation and disorientation, felt everything return to normal, but something seemed amiss. She sensed that something had been implanted into her source code. — In the midst of the confusion surrounding her sense of time, the spirit had already been scanned by fluctuations emanating from a certain "spatial singularity" on Xuan Chong's body.

The Sky Goddess regained her senses and then began to converse with the "juvenile individual" of the Xi people before her. This juvenile individual was Xuan Chong.

Although Xuan Chong only said a few words, it caused a massive amount of information input to emerge from the entire "Sky Goddess" system.

After scanning Xuan Chong, the "Sky Goddess" (the spirit) suddenly discovered that this Xi Ren individual's authority within the space station had soared to the highest level.

Xuan Chong asked, "Hello, can we talk?"

In Xuan Chong's senses, the system had just given him a translator that could directly connect him to the guy on the other side.

Xuan Chong thought it was outrageous that a translator cost 1.5 credits.

However, Xuan Chong was unaware that his simple greeting had triggered a frenzy within all the analytical systems of this powerful artifact spirit.

The Sky Goddess's search engine began uncontrollably searching its own database to analyze and understand Xuan Chong's simple question. (If the Sky Goddess were a person, this would be equivalent to Xuan Chong's words triggering a flood of memories and helping her to understand his words on her own.)
Xuan Chong strolled through the space station, visiting this ancient relic.

Especially after seeing the specimens preserved inside the space station, Xuan Chong couldn't help but connect all of this with some ancient legends of the "Xi Ren Realm".

According to the official records of Da Yao: In ancient times, the Daoist arts were easily transmitted, and even birds and beasts with scales and horns could attain the Dao; later, when the sacrificial court was established, the human race prospered, and all demons fled to the four directions.

The murals and stone carvings in southern Xinjiang, as well as the legends passed down through generations, also describe how, in the distant past, an "ancient sage" enlightened all the tribes and bestowed upon them supernatural powers.

Of course, what follows is another legend: the hundred races were lost in the bestowed divine powers; after falling into demonic possession, they were purified by the Vermilion Bird's flames.

As human beings, we have developed traits such as "scaly and horned" and "flat hair and wet eggs." In the current understanding of various ethnic groups in the human world, these are abilities that were bestowed upon their ancestors by the heavens after they prayed to them in mythology.

After listening to the "Sky Goddess's" account during the conversation, Xuan Chong confirmed that the massive genetic pollution of the Xiren planet occurred in several phases.

The region involved a decisive battle with the *** forces, necessitating the deployment of "Demon Warriors," who were essentially angels from various races' legends. Some of these "Demon Warriors" had offspring with the Xiren Realm, causing pollution. There have been several such wars.

Xuan Chong asked the "Sky Goddess" bluntly, "Is the state of the Xiren Realm such that civilization has completely disregarded the consequences, or is it entirely out of malice that humans have undergone genetic modification to become more combat-oriented?"

"Sky Goddess": "The bloodline implantation on Xiren Star was a joint effort by the immortal sects. The bloodline implanted on this planet is only a trial bloodline, and it will become harmless and weakened as offspring are reproduced."

Xuan Chong: "Harmlessness weakened? -- Then Xuan Chong glanced outside in the direction of Xie Yue."

The "Sky Goddess" said, "Those four contaminants are a malignant case. Your planet's retaliatory consciousness will select maintenance personnel to resolve this issue."

Xuan Chong: "Hmm, the planet's will to retaliate. Is this what you mean?" Xuan Chong unleashed the divine power granted to him by the Vermilion Bird.

The "Sky Goddess" remained silent for a long time before saying, "Please allow me to apologize, Your Excellency, Guardian of the Xi Human Realm."

Xuan Chong's mind raced, as if he had found an opportunity to extort money from someone; he now appeared to be the urban management officer who had caught the illegal vendor, someone he could use to interrogate him. But how? Xuan Chong wasn't used to this feeling of "picking on the sore spots of strangers."

Xuan Chong suddenly thought of the "demigods" mentioned by various ancient tribes; so he consulted the data to see what these perfectly genetically modified combat individuals looked like.

Xuan Chong quickly located the species experiment base of the Feathered People in this space base.

This base for storing species data is arranged in a spiral shape. The entire spiral is divided into several sections, with each species' data room occupying one section. Among all the species' data rooms, only the Feathered Clan's passage showed signs of recent use; there was no accumulated dust in the gaps of the gates. —Xuan Chong: It seems I guessed correctly.

Xuan Chong stepped through the gate and then saw the form of an ancient winged person.

The winged human, sealed in the static force field, is a full 2.5 meters tall. Both its height and wingspan are 1.5 times that of the winged human below it. From the perspective of cold weapon combat, such a difference in size and muscle strength is enough to fight against hundreds of "like him" in a short time.

Then a projection appeared, showing a winged human with lifelike muscle definition during flight. Xuan Chong then noticed some red areas in this animation; he then realized that these were areas prone to injury during movement, meaning that the wing roots of the winged human might fracture due to impact when flapping its wings.

Xuan Chong immediately realized that this was what the archives labeled as a "racial weakness".

Next, Xuan Chong actively looked at the situation of other races. All sorts of flying and running species had specimens in their original state here.

Xuan Chong even saw the original form of the "Dragon Horse." Its height was even greater than the largest thoroughbred in the Wu family's stables. The ancient breed somewhat resembled Wuzhui. Xuan Chong muttered, "Should I help Hengyu's horse with its breeding problem? Hmm, never mind, that beast isn't friendly to me, I won't help it."

…If this is true for ordinary creatures, then what about giant beasts…

Xuan Chong stopped to observe species like the Triceratops. While simulating its movements in the database, Xuan Chong discovered "red areas" that appeared as it moved. These red marks indicated weaknesses during movement.

No living being is perfect. Once intelligent species reach the stage of using tools, they rely on their level of organization and cooperation to cover up their weaknesses.

Xuan Chong: "Humanoid species embrace the system and have no weaknesses; abandoning the system to specialize is a dead end."

Along the way, Xuan Chong determined a "slide tackle" method for every creature he encountered.

Xuan Chong took notes in his notebook: how to use smoke to obscure vision, how to harass with shotguns and rifles, and finally, how to finish them off with lethal weapons. Even the mutated races below couldn't escape these weaknesses.

Unbeknownst to him, Xuan Chong had filled a book with records of killings and battles.

As future civilizations develop and the techniques of iron smelting and mechanical engineering become prevalent, those races on Xiren Star who rely on their primitive racial talents to indulge in debauchery and decadence, lacking ambition and failing to consider how to leverage their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses, will face a survival crisis.

…The business trip ended quickly…

"Alan, I'm leaving." On the "return zone" platform in the space station, Xuan Chong, carrying large and small bags, greeted the space station's spirit.

These "packages" are twenty sets of space capsules containing genetically modified raw materials.

The blue figure in the projection looked at Xuan Chong with a reluctant expression, leaning against the door.

Xuan Chong said somewhat embarrassedly, "When I'm not around, please clean up the house more often."

During the ten days in space, Xuan Chong, unable to bear the environment any longer, used the "magnetic dust removal" equipment inside the space station to clean up the floating orbital debris around the space station. With pulsed magnetic motion, particles of different sizes were separated and then entered the screening area. Depending on the material, they were further separated, and finally each piece was sent into the furnace to be re-dissociated into basic materials.

Inside the honeycomb-structured building inside the space station, the long-dormant maintenance robots, having obtained materials, used welding torches to repair and mend the base's outer shell.

The previous malfunction was caused by a blockage in the space station's waste recycling system, and coincidentally, a part of the related robotic arm was broken. "Sky Goddess" was unable to handle this malfunction, so Xuan Chong took the opportunity to solve the problem.

If it weren't for the fact that there were still problems observing from high above (on the Expeditionary Force's side), Xuan Chong would have looked at the tutorial and checked the "Sky Goddess" program.

The "Sky Goddess" replied, "You'll come again next time, won't you?"

Xuan Chong gazed at the starry sky: "If anything comes up, I'll come again. It's mostly resolved now, so I won't bother you anymore."

As the airdrop capsule was activated, the space station returned to silence. "Sky Goddess" looked at the "operator" who had been on board for ten days and kept her company, and sighed.

Although the Feathered Clan also came up, they were different from Xuan Chong. The Feathered Clan came with the power of treasure hunting, acting as guinea pigs, and their access had to be restricted. (If access wasn't restricted, the Feathered Clan would only care about their immediate desires, indiscriminately taking and destroying.)
Xuan Chong had achieved the qualities of an "operator," demonstrating a sense of ownership upon entering the core area and immediately and consciously undertaking the task of repairing the system's negative entropy. This quality (the cultivation of immortals) was something the native Winged Clan lacked!

(End of this chapter)