Then all my cultivation as an immortal has been for nothing?

Chapter 4, First Combat Configuration

Elsa led Wang Yi out of the cafeteria, but after taking only two steps, she suddenly remembered something, turned around and tossed something to Wang Yi.

Wang Yi was preoccupied with the battery symbol and hadn't even realized what was happening when he was suddenly slapped on the forehead.

Elsa was quick-witted and swift-tailed; with a sweep of her tail, she scooped up anything about to fall and then grabbed it with her hand.

"What are you thinking about! I was just thinking of sharing a piece of candy with you! Never mind, I won't give it to you!"

Elsa was about to throw the candy wrapper into her mouth when she said that.

"Wait a minute!" Wang Yi shouted.

At this moment, he had a guess: this battery symbol must not have been there before entering the cafeteria, because it was on Wang Yi's usual hand when he was using his phone. Once he was using his phone, this thing would be in his field of vision, so he would definitely have noticed it.

After all, it's a battery symbol, and mobile phone users are most afraid of running out of power. They check it every now and then, and they're almost developing battery anxiety.

In other words, the food appeared while eating, leading to the logical conclusion that it was related to eating.

Wang Yi said to Elsa firmly, "I want candy!"

"Huh?" Elsa exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you saying this with such a serious expression! If you want some, just give it to me."

As she spoke, she raised her hand.

This time, Wang Yi caught the candy accurately, and then he discovered that the candy's outer coating was not edible rice paper at all.

Elsa noticed Wang Yi's expression: "I'm a wolf beastman, I can digest the packaging of this thing, so there's no need to peel it."

That's it.

Wang Yi unwrapped the packaging.

Inside was a pure white milk candy, and its rich aroma was released as soon as the wrapper was torn open.

Elsa: "This is a milk candy made from the wings of a sugar-painted phoenix. The sugar-painted phoenix was originally a magical beast that took shape after being painted with sugar, and then it was made into candy. It contains the spiritual energy of the immortal who was in charge of painting the eyes."

Wang Yi: "You mean this was originally a sugar painting, but it was turned into a monster by adding the finishing touches, and then made into candy?"

“That’s right, that’s right.” Elsa nodded repeatedly, her tail wagging like a dog. “This thing costs 10 points to exchange for, and you can even use it to replenish your energy during battle. Consider it a free gift!”

According to Elsa, the energy felt like a blue bar.

Elsa: "However, there is a certain possibility that a novice might suddenly die from eating this, but since you have an earth elemental root, your resistance is relatively strong, so you should be fine."

Wang Yi subconsciously moved the candy a little further away.

Elsa laughed heartily: "It's alright, it's alright. Have you forgotten that we're inside the Resurrection Bureau's magic circle? Even if you die suddenly, you can be resurrected immediately, it will just consume some cultivation, but you don't have any cultivation to consume, so you can be resurrected at will!"

So this resurrection requires consuming cultivation points! You guys really did have something you didn't tell me!
Wang Yi examined the milk candy again, thinking that since he was already on the wrong path, he might as well go all out.

Besides, Elsa doesn't seem like the kind of person who would resort to trickery.

A voice echoed in Wang Yi's mind: The more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to deceive—

Zhang Wuji, shut up.

Besides, if this thing is really that powerful, it's a good opportunity to test what's going on with the battery symbol on my hand.

He popped the candy into his mouth.

The sugar melted the moment it entered his mouth, and Wang Yi's spirits soared—but he was immediately slammed back to the ground.

Elsa: "Oh, you didn't die suddenly. And the dazed state only lasted for less than a second. Although your spiritual root only has an intensity of 22, your resistance is really high."

Wang Yi pretended to look down at his body, hands, and feet to check his condition, and secretly glanced at the battery icon on his wrist.

increased!
The battery level, which was originally only a tiny bit at the bottom, has visibly increased, and a percentage reading has appeared.

Five percent.

Will eating 19 more of these candies fill me up?
Wang Yi reached out to Elsa: "I want more!"

"Get lost!" Elsa waved her hand dismissively. "This thing costs 10 points! I can only exchange for a hundred of these with my base points for a whole month! And this is the cheapest in-battle energy recovery item I can get. I'm saving it for battle!"

Elsa then took out a handful of these candies.

"This is all the reserves I have now. Is it too much? Not at all!"

After saying that, Elsa took one and popped it into her mouth.

Wang Yi: "Didn't we say we should recover our energy during battle?"

“My Qi Sea isn’t full yet, so I might as well go back first.” Elsa said, turning around and walking forward. “Let’s go, the D-rank teams should be assembled by now. We can see them making their pre-departure preparations at the command center.”

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Soon, Elsa led Wang Yi into the command center.

Wang Yi's mouth dropped open: "This is a command center? It looks even more modern than the command centers in science fiction movies!"

As he said this, many operators turned around, and all eyes immediately focused on him.

"Silence!" a stern voice boomed from the central platform of the command center. The operators immediately resumed their work.

Wang Yi scrutinized the speaker: a middle-aged man who looked exactly like the uncle in The Wandering Earth 2 who was in charge of shouting "Technician" at the space center.

To be honest, if you told me that this "command center" was a set built by Guo Fan for The Wandering Earth 3, Wang Yi would believe it.

Elsa pulled Wang Yi along, saying, "Our position is in the observation room over there! Let's go! Otherwise, the commander will scold us again!"

Wang Yi then noticed a large floor-to-ceiling glass window on the left wall of the command center, behind which was arranged what looked like an employee lounge. Elsa was tiptoeing toward it.

Wang Yi hurriedly followed, looking around as he walked.

Then he saw a group of people on the big screen who looked more like special forces soldiers than monks, organizing their equipment.

There were four people in total, sitting around a long table. On the table were a dozen automatic rifles and marksman rifles, along with open ammunition racks, magazines that were not yet full, and baskets of bullets.

Is this right?
Wang Yi couldn't resist tugging at Elsa's tail.

"Eek!" the girl exclaimed.

The commander's stern gaze swept over her, causing Elsa to stifle her scream.

Elsa: "What?"

Wang Yi pointed at the screen: "So many firearms? Is that right?"

"What are you wondering? Air is very precious. If you can achieve the same effect with firearms, never use air!" Elsa whispered. "Come on, let's go into the observation room and I'll tell you. It's soundproof in one direction, so no one outside can hear us."

Wang Yi could only shut up and follow Elsa toward the observation room, watching the D-level team members prepare on the screen as they walked.

One of the four team members looked like a giant, but he was fiddling with a Type 171 submachine gun, like a giant child playing with a toy he had just acquired.

Another team member was adjusting the microphone headset; it seemed there was a problem with the connection between the headset and the helmet.

A female soldier is loading marksman rifle bullets into a magazine.

The last team member was attaching a grenade to his chest.

You should do something like monks!
Upon entering the observation room, Wang Yi immediately asked, "These people are fully armed, wearing bulletproof vests and helmets. What's the point of their cultivation?"

“Look at their body-refining cultivator,” Elsa explained. “That’s the forward position. He’s wearing specially made super armor plates that can withstand direct hits from 12.7mm machine gun bullets. Each of these weighs five kilograms. Even an ordinary person using a powered exoskeleton couldn’t carry that many armor plates.”

Wang Yi looked at the little giant's armor plates on the screen, but he immediately noticed that the other cultivators had powered exoskeletons.

What about other people wearing exoskeletons?

"Their physical training level is relatively low, so using an exoskeleton allows them to carry more equipment and armor."

Hmm, that seems to make sense.

Wang Yi pressed on, "Then what do they use their gas for?"

"It's very useful! After all, it's energy; it can be used for anything!"

Elsa, with a teacher's expression, pointed at the screen and said, "Look at that sniper. She must be using her Qi to activate the Qi Observation Technique, which allows her to find the target's location faster, or even directly use armor-piercing rounds to penetrate walls and kill the target."

"Look at that grenadier again. He must be using his breath to send the grenade and C4 to the target."

"The guy with the submachine gun might use his qi to enhance the gun's penetrating power, or he might use his qi to perform a lightness technique, allowing him to scale walls and move around freely."

Wang Yi said "Oh": "I can see that. They are all highly skilled."

Old questions disappeared, but new questions arose.

Wang Yi immediately asked, "Why does it seem like none of the D-level cultivators are using qi to attack directly? Is it because the direct attack power of spells is insufficient?"

"Not really. Golden Core cultivators have many powerful spells, and their Qi Sea can support the continuous use of these spells. But let me tell you, explosives are too useful! Modern industry can continuously produce high explosives, maximizing cost-effectiveness, which also affects the combat methods of Golden Core cultivators."

Elsa raised her hands: "Praise be to Nobel, the embodiment of dynamite!"

Wang Yi sighed, wondering why this world of cultivation was so different from what he had imagined.
He could already picture a Golden Core cultivator storing 1000 five-ton bombs in his storage ring and dropping them everywhere.

It may be very powerful and effective, and it's also cheap, but it completely ruins the image.

At that moment, an operator outside shouted: "Monitoring team reports, demonic cultivators have been detected infiltrating the human dimension, coordinates 331, 242. Teleportation device ready. Nightingale Squad, please respond, are you ready to attack?"

Then Wang Yi saw the cultivators on the screen finally confirming the inserts on the bulletproof vest, as well as the magazines and grenades on the ammunition rack.

The body-refining cultivator, who seemed like a giant, pressed his earpiece: "We are ready and can set off at any time."

Operator: "The map of the scene and the status of the demonic cultivators have been sent to your wrist displays. The fire support aircraft is already in the air. No heavy equipment or powerful magical artifacts have been found on the demonic cultivators."

"Received," the giant replied, then turned to the others after releasing the headset, "Time to set off. A demonic cultivator whose brain has been damaged by cultivation. Finish this quickly and come back for dinner."

The sniper in the team—let's call her that for now—looked at the monitor on her wrist: "Is this demonic cultivator a bit weak? Can such a demonic cultivator penetrate the Nine Cauldrons' barrier and enter the human world?"

Wang Yi turned to Elsa and asked, "The Nine Tripods?"

"You know about Nuwa patching up the sky, right?" Elsa asked back. "That's a real thing that happened. It's just that Nuwa used the stones from patching up the sky to forge the Nine Cauldrons, which stabilized the human dimension. Most spells and supernatural abilities are suppressed in this world, so ordinary people can live relatively safely in the human dimension."

Wang Yi: "The human realm... is it the human realm among the six realms of sentient beings?"

Elsa: "You know quite a lot. That's right, the Heavenly Path, the Asura Path, the Human Path, the Animal Path, the Hungry Ghost Path, and the Hell Path, a total of six dimensions."

Wang Yi wanted to ask more questions, but the commander outside shouted, "The operation will begin in 60 seconds. Nightingale Squad, please enter the teleportation room."

With the order given, the four D-rank cultivators finished their preparations and, carrying their chosen equipment, arrived at the door of the preparation room. The door opened, and through the screen, the glow of a teleportation array could be seen on the other side.

The four entered the teleportation array.

The countdown is still going on in the control room at the command center.

When the countdown reached zero, all four of them disappeared into the teleportation array.

The view of the preparation room also disappeared, replaced by four separate views.

Wang Yi immediately realized that this was footage from four people wearing head-mounted cameras.

The "sniper" was teleported to the rooftop of a building, and she immediately made a hand seal with one hand.

Elsa explained, "Look, if you use the Qi Observation and Wind Observation Technique and cultivate it to the tenth level, you can control the situation within a radius of 100 kilometers, which is equivalent to a small ground radar. Moreover, it is the kind of radar that can find people regardless of buildings!"

Wang Yi: "Oh, isn't it a bit of a waste for her to be using a sniper rifle? She should be commanding a 300mm rocket artillery company."

"She's probably only at level three! How could someone who's cultivated to level ten only be at level D!" Elsa said. "And this thing, its effect is... what's it called? It's the kind where the more you cultivate, the faster you grow..."

"Exponential growth?" Wang Yi asked tentatively.

"Yes, yes, that's exactly what I meant!"

At this point, voice conversations between team members could be heard in the observation room.

"Sniper" reports: "Found him. The energy fluctuations aren't strong, so he probably doesn't have any good equipment. Old Shi, I'll guide you to stop him!"

The little giant replied, "It's up to you!"

He was speeding down the road and had just passed a semi-trailer truck.

Wang Yi suddenly discovered that this group of people were operating in a certain neighborhood of Yangcheng City.

"Wait a minute, why aren't passersby surprised to see a little giant fully armed?"

Elsa: "This is the effect of the Nine Cauldrons. Although we live in the same human dimension as ordinary people, there is a thick barrier between us."

As she spoke, she gestured with her flat chest, which resembled an airport runway.

“About this thick.”

Sniper: "The enemy is turning! Skinny Monkey, intercept him and force him towards Old Stone's side!"

"I've already seen him!" The monk nicknamed Skinny Monkey was doing parkour at that moment.

At least in Wang Yi's view, it was parkour. The only difference between the cultivator and ordinary people who did parkour was that the cultivator was wearing a heavy bulletproof vest and carrying a combat rifle and a submachine gun as a secondary weapon.

Skinny Monkey: "I'm going to speed up!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he slapped a talisman on his body, and the next moment he leaped high into the air, directly crossing the four-lane road in front of him. His athleticism instantly jumped from ordinary parkour to The Matrix.

Elsa faithfully explained, "This talisman shouldn't be something a D-rank could draw on their own; it's probably a reward redeemed with company points. The talisman mainly relies on the energy injected by the talisman maker during its creation, working together with the firearm to conserve energy."

Are talismans really on the same level as firearms?
Wang Yizheng exclaimed in surprise, and Elsa added, "But talismans require far more points than firearms. After all, talisman makers cannot mass-produce them industrially."

The most impressive episode on industrialization!
The "skinny monkey" on the screen had already used the power of the talisman to leap over several buildings and fly directly above the fleeing demonic cultivator.

Skinny Monkey opened fire, spraying bullets down from his vantage point with his combat rifle.

The demonic cultivator raised his hand, his cloak unfurling, instantly swallowing all the bullets raining down upon him.

"He has a cloak!" Skinny Monkey's voice came through the communicator calmly, as if it were no big deal. "I'll keep firing to overload his cloak!"

Wang Yi pointed at the screen and asked Elsa, "Overload?"

"It means exactly what it says. Even if a magic weapon can absorb bullets, it will still consume its own durability. If it absorbs too much damage in a short period of time, it will break."

A magical artifact that can be destroyed by firearms seems really low-class!
While Wang Yi was complaining, the battle continued. The sniper seemed to have seized an opportunity and opened fire.

At this moment, Wang Yi noticed that the woman was holding a Barrett anti-materiel rifle and firing it while kneeling without her body swaying. He didn't know if it was the divine power of her exoskeleton or the strength of a cultivator that she was enduring.

Because of the great distance, the bullet flew for a second before hitting the wall next to the demonic cultivator, penetrating the wall and embedding itself in the cultivator's cloak.

The next moment, the cloak turned into sparks and scattered.

The bullet shattered the wall, and the resulting brick fragments struck the rapidly moving demonic cultivator directly, leaving a very noticeable white mark.

Wang Yi immediately realized that this demonic cultivator was nothing special.

How powerful can a guy who gets a white mark on his skin from being hit by a brick be?
"Cloak overload." The skinny guy spoke as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, the screen showing him changing magazines. "I'm going to attack the main body—"

At that moment, the demonic cultivator suddenly disappeared, and the next instant, a withered hand grabbed the skinny monkey's rifle.

"I was—" The skinny monkey started to speak, but the rest of his words turned into a scream, "Ughhhhhh!"

The sniper fired again, but the demonic cultivator turned around in mid-air and turned the skinny monkey towards the sniper. All of this happened within the bullet's flight time!
The skinny monkey was shot; the bullet hit his left shoulder directly, but unlike the brick wall, it didn't shatter instantly. It seemed the bullet passed right through and struck the demonic cultivator hiding behind it.

A new howl appeared in the communication, possibly the demonic cultivator's cry being picked up by the microphone.

At the same time, a magic circle appeared on the ground below the demonic cultivator, and chains flew out from the magic circle, trapping both the demonic cultivator and the skinny monkey.

At this moment, Wang Yi realized that the grenade guy who had been silent all along was casting a spell. He was carrying a bag of grenades and he was actually a spellcaster!
Finally, you're starting to look like cultivators. Your performance just now was no different from that of cybernetically enhanced cyber warriors!

Just then, the little giant arrived.

He rushed forward and grabbed the demonic cultivator's head.

Wang Yi noticed what the demonic cultivators were doing to the skinny monkey. He turned to look at Elsa, who replied, "The demonic cultivators are trying to refine the skinny monkey. Human souls with intelligence are valuable cultivation resources for demonic cultivators, and they rely on this to rapidly increase their strength."

"Humans with spiritual roots are even more precious. If this demonic cultivator can really refine the person nicknamed 'Skinny Monkey,' the danger level of the mission will skyrocket."

"However, cultivators can rely on their own abilities to resist this kind of refining."

Just as Elsa answered, the giant nicknamed "Old Stone" crushed the demon cultivator's head.

The scene was so bloody that Wang Yi couldn't help but turn his head away.

Elsa commented ruthlessly, "Not bad. 'Skinny Monkey' may have suffered some damage to his foundation and will need additional supplements to recover. The grenade guy used a lot of energy to release the spirit-locking array and will also need to exchange for a lot of supplements... However, teams that are familiar with each other will share their gains, so no one should be at a disadvantage."

After speaking, Elsa turned to Wang Yi: "So, do you have a basic understanding of battles between low-level cultivators now?"

Wang Yi nodded.

Just then, an exclamation came over the loudspeaker: "The Jiangmen Neutrino Laboratory has captured a large number of neutrinos and is analyzing the energy spectrum and time series of the Cherenkov photoelectron signal!"

"Analysis complete, it's Pattern A!"

The next moment, Wang Yi saw a large amount of red light. He turned his head and saw that the large screen on the left side of the entire command center had turned red, and scarlet text was scrolling: Level A emergency has occurred! Level A emergency has occurred!
The commander on the central platform waved his hand: "First combat configuration! Summon all A-level and above cultivators on duty!"

As the command was issued, the broadcast continued: "The Shengang detector has captured a large number of neutrinos! Cherenkov photoelectron signal energy spectrum, mode A!"

Wang Yi frowned. Wasn't the Shengang detector located overseas, thousands of kilometers away? How could it detect this?

Just as he was thinking this, a new broadcast came on: "The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in Canada has detected a large number of neutrinos, Cherenkov photoelectron signal energy spectrum - Mode A!"

Well, they've detected things from even further away.

The broadcast continued: "The temperature of the Flame Essence Cauldron has been detected to be rising! Someone is breaking through the barrier!"

Commander: "Immediately locate the coordinates of the crossing point! Notify Nightingale Squad to retreat!"

"No, an electromagnetic storm has arrived, and the radio is out of service!" one of the operators replied.

Commander: "Light signal!"

"Light signal activated."

The next moment, the helmet cameras of all four members of the Nightingale squad showed a red glow. It turned out that the neon lights had been activated during the day, and they were a striking red. From the sniper's perspective, they could also see scrolling red text on the building: Emergency Evacuation! Emergency Evacuation!

So, do these lighting and landscaping projects serve this purpose? Or... were they built for this purpose from the very beginning?
Old Shi hoisted Skinny Monkey onto his shoulder, threw the dead demonic cultivator into something that looked like a freezer, and then lifted him out.

Wang Yi keenly noticed that the demonic cultivator seemed to be melting, and his physical form was disintegrating.

The three people who were still able to move quickly gathered in front of a shop with the words "Shop for Rent" written on it.

The shop door suddenly opened, revealing an elevator inside.

They escaped by getting into the elevator.

Almost simultaneously, the operator shouted: "Cross the coordinates—it's just outside headquarters."

The commander frowned: "Which audacious demonic cultivator dared to activate the final defense array? Which group is on duty today?"

"It's the 'Thunderclap' squad."

Commander: "Have them get ready."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

At that very moment, the Nightingale Squad was taking a special subway train back to headquarters.

There were only four of them on the long train.

To outsiders, this might appear to be a normally scheduled empty train.

As the train passed through the station, a large number of commuters looked on in astonishment at the train speeding past outside the platform screen doors.

The sniper fed the skinny monkey a herbal pill, and he soon opened his eyes.

Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief.

The skinny monkey joked, "I'm tough as nails! Don't worry!"

Sniper: "It's not like any of us are worried about you."

"I can tell you're quite worried."

"Go ahead and dream!"

Everyone laughed.

Everyone took the slight demonic aura emanating from the skinny monkey as a side effect of being corrupted by demonic cultivation.

　New book release period, please read!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)