Forge a path to success.

Chapter 333: Stop talking
"...This blood refining method truly requires instruction through words and actions, so Ji Qiufeng cannot teach it to you." Huan Ge sighed, "I demonstrated it for you this time, and you..."

It stared at Chu Hengkong's calves, which were beginning to melt, and said, "You probably understand now."

"Ah."

"What are you humming about! I've already told you to be careful and not to practice on your own! Every year on the mountain, we see idiots who have burned themselves out. It's a lot of work for us senior brothers and masters to treat them, do you understand?!"

Chu Hengkong withdrew his aura, and his leg was completely healed. He smiled and said, "I've discovered that if one possesses an Undying and Indestructible Technique, the risks of blood refining can be significantly reduced. And refining from the outside in with the Qi Armor, or from the inside out with the Burning Night Technique, should also be a method that yields twice the result with half the effort, right?"

Huan Ge kept scratching his head, but finally couldn't resist the eager gaze of his juniors and sighed, "Alas! Now that things have come to this, I won't hide it from you. The three secret techniques of Longquan Township are both skills and paths. Their original purpose is to cultivate together with the One Qi Through the Thousand Autumns, helping martial artists break through the life-and-death bottlenecks..."

"The basic framework is the One Qi Through the Ages plus one of the Three Secret Transmissions."

"That's the basic framework for a mid-level cultivator. You should also know that this method is far too early for you right now!" Huan Ge's face behind the mask turned solemn. "The prerequisite for refining blood into qi is complete control over one's own body, a trait possessed only by those with the Sky-Bearing Wings. It's usually only when Sky-Bearing cultivators are preparing to break through the mortal realm that they dare to go into seclusion to study this method. But your current strength far surpasses the essence of life, and you're challenging someone who has refined blood at level 3. I've never heard of such a thing before."

"Will there be any downsides?"

"There are no downsides, only benefits!" Huan Ge sneered. "The benefit is that after you successfully refine your blood, your life essence will naturally improve. Even if you're incredibly stupid and dull-witted, you can still force your way to level 4 in terms of mass points. Even if you have a thousand reasons not to, you can still fly after you succeed!"

Chu Hengkong, who had been in a lighthearted mood, was taken aback by these words. Huan Ge shook his head upon seeing this: "But you know yourself that skill isn't the real challenge; the mental hurdle is the hardest to overcome. You have grand ambitions, yet you've bound yourself to the ground. With such a mindset, how can you truly succeed?"

Chu Hengkong scratched his head: "Do you think I'm restricting myself?"

Huan Ge retorted, "Huh, you're such a domineering guy, yet you're always sullen. Do I need to 'think' you? I think you're not happy with all the chaos in Jing Sha, and you wish you could personally step in and set things right!"

"You're joking, it's none of my business."

"I'd like to ask you something: what kind of setbacks have you suffered that make you so unable to express your feelings?"

Chu Hengkong remained silent for a while before replying, "I failed once before... so it's hard for me to return to that mindset."

A huge question mark appeared on Huan Ge's mask: "If we can't go back, why force ourselves to continue?"

"We can't afford to lose again," Chu Hengkong laughed. "We can't afford to lose anymore."

Huan Ge didn't ask any more questions. He conjured up four small flags and stuck them in the four corners of the room. He also conjured up a piece of yellow paper and placed it on the table.

As he left, he said, "My banners can block heretics below the level of 5. After all, a bookstore is not a military camp. If you want to cultivate, come inside... Everyone has their own path, so I won't say more. Just remember, if you can't see through something, don't force it. Perseverance is the true path!"

Chu Hengkong thanked him, took the yellow paper and looked at it. He found that it was the lost array of point 4, with a pair of fluffy wings drawn in the center of the array.

He went out and asked a member of the Divine Guard to deliver a letter to Ji Huaisu, telling him that he was practicing cultivation. Then he sat cross-legged in the center of the room and emptied his mind.

Refining his body wasn't simple, as he still possessed many external cultivation components. He also needed to take this opportunity to adjust his body and use the Residual Heart Reversal Technique to arrange a non-fighting spot for these "residents"...

His muscles dissolved little by little, and he let his thoughts wander, unconsciously repeating Huan Ge's last admonition: "Let nature take its course, don't force things..." This was something he could hardly achieve, even during his time as an assassin.

They are always going against the current, never stopping.

·
The cleanroom headquarters, VV Laboratory.

After days of torrential rain, the dust-free grounds finally cleared up today, and laughter filled the park. Scholars who had been cooped up for weeks were having picnics with their families on the lawn, and even the most traditional old scholars took off their brass masks.

The secretary changed into sneakers; she didn't want to walk around the grass in high heels like a compass on such a beautiful day. She checked to make sure no new messages had arrived, then sat down under the banyan tree and tore open a sandwich.

The package contained a bright green bag of synthetic vitamins and natural plant fiber, and she began to regret buying the health food.

"Give yourself a break, Hill, aren't you really going to feel nauseous?" A female colleague from the research institute next door said to her. "Try this, I made it myself."

The female colleague was easygoing and plump; her son had only recently started school. Hill accepted her gift: a heavy potato pie and some homemade egg tarts.

Thank you so much! Any good news lately?

My colleague's picnic basket was still full of snacks; it wouldn't be easy to make them all in a short time. Her plump face beamed with a smile: "My husband returned safely from the front lines, and I took a week off!"

Secretary Hill congratulated him repeatedly, noticing a large man playing guitar and singing by the fountain, attracting a large crowd of scholars. His voice wasn't great, but the song itself was excellent. It seemed to be a new tune from Jing Sha, and she secretly memorized it to buy a recording crystal later. "He's even more energetic than before he left!" her colleague said proudly. "His mercenaries all say he's a good leader, but I said even if he's good, he can't stay there any longer."

Hill agreed: "At this critical juncture, it's always good to stay away from the front lines."

"I think so too..."

Seeing that no one was paying attention, the plump woman whispered to her, "But no, right? I heard you've been taking action. That bill can't possibly pass, can it?"

“That’s hard to say, ma’am.” Hill took a bite of potato pie. Considering it wasn’t exactly a secret, she decided to be frank: “The boss has made many arrangements, but Speaker Parryman is like another old tree, deeply rooted within the thorn bush. I’m afraid it will be difficult for us to change the situation.”

"But she's not the kind of person who does things for nothing."

“I think the boss will take real action much later,” Hill said. “And right now, as you know, it’s all a long period of preparation…”

“Of course, of course…” the fat woman said with a strange expression, “but to be honest, I’m a little worried about the scale of her ‘operation.’ You know, that was… too exaggerated.”

Hill wholeheartedly agreed: "I think it should be over soon."

They turned their heads together, looking towards the north of the park with an almost awe-inspiring gaze. There was a clear "line" there, with the sun-drenched land on one side and the dark, abyss-like buildings on the other.

A colossal object, as massive as a cloud, stood silently above the Dustless Land headquarters, its size obscuring nearly half the sky above the island. That terrifying, cold cloud continued to expand, countless tiny machines darting between the behemoth and the earth, like industrious worker bees adding bricks and tiles to the "cloud." The boss stood at the center of that cloud, a faint glow emanating from it—her transformation array, concealed by the colossal object.

They spoke softly, like two little people gazing at the mountains.

"Your boss will succeed, right?"

"It definitely will. If she fails, the Dustless Land will probably collapse."

If they were granted permission to use high-precision observation instruments, they would be able to detect that every wisp of breath within the "dark clouds" was fluctuating. The granularity of that movement was extremely small, not the breathing of a colossal creature, but rather a wave formed by countless tiny objects converging, like a drop of water compared to a tsunami.

If the observation instruments were of a sufficient level, they could see the true form of that tiny object. It was a smooth, mirror-like, autonomous machine, only the size of a hand mirror, with four corners composed of dark blue magical energy rings. Countless machines were moving data and transporting energy, progressing at an astonishing speed to bring the design on the blueprints to reality, a process that appeared slow to the naked eye but was actually incredibly fast.

Once a machine has completed its task, it returns to its place to participate in assembly. They are the workers and craftsmen, and also the smallest "cells" that make up this behemoth.

Violet Vellus floated silently in the center of this cold, thick cloud. She had just completed the final program fix, eliminating any possibility of it going out of control. The design optimization had reached its limit; all that remained was to wait for the assembly of the Holy Grail to be completed.

In theory, she could even leave the site now to take a nap or have a cup of coffee, and then officially advance after the monotonous work was finished. But Vilbert was still staring at the design drawings.

She always felt that something was missing from the Holy Cup, and if she overlooked this flaw, she would probably regret it for the rest of her life.

The Cup of Honor is a symbol of leadership. The "ideas" that a leader is recognized by all are contained within the cup, thus generating corresponding abilities. Its design is consistent with the Divine Blade and the Heart Sword, as it is essentially a manifestation of one's own ideals in a weapon. Therefore, as long as there is no deviation in direction, there will be no fatal flaws.

Vilbert wouldn't make such a basic mistake; she's always been decisive and never hesitates. She has a clear understanding of the goals to be achieved and the means to be used. Moreover, she had been a leader for a long time before embarking on her path to promotion, and she has her own set of insights at the "ideological" level.

Her Holy Grail should not have any flaws, but now, as it nears completion, a sense of incongruity, lacking theoretical support, lingers like a fishbone stuck in her throat. Something is missing, something is incomplete; a crucial piece of the puzzle remains unfinished. Continuing on this path will surely lead to success, but the risks will inevitably surface someday.

There is no evidence, and the simulation results do not show any unstable factors, but...

She remembered something someone had said.

"I advise you not to take theories too seriously. If everything in the world could be solved with arithmetic, we wouldn't need to bother with all this nonsense."

She was meticulously reviewing the battle plan when the assassin, lounging on the sofa playing video games, not only offered no help but also made sarcastic remarks. She retorted with her usual sarcasm, to which the assassin laughed, "Then why don't you use a computer to calculate my moves? See if that works."

Vilbert rejected his provocation, because it was pointless to try to calculate the capabilities of a closed system that was completely chaotic in terms of both action patterns and strength during a battle. She then threw away the action plan she had painstakingly developed over the past week and changed it to "Chu Hengkong infiltrates the main force alone to coordinate an attack."

Of course, the result was a resounding victory.

This recollection brought her a slight sense of frustration, which in turn led to renewed doubts about her own abilities. For most of her career, Chu Hengkong had been her companion, and the vast majority of seemingly irreconcilable conflicts could be resolved with the simple solution of "let Ah Kong go." With such an omnipotent assassin by her side, even a clueless little girl could easily secure her position as a gang leader.

"I'll listen to you then," Wilbert thought, deciding to try a non-logical approach.

(End of this chapter)