I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

Deep beneath Westminster Abbey in London, Great Britain.

This is the highest-level refuge activated in the Western transcendent world in an emergency, and it is also the "Transcendental Origin Analysis Laboratory" jointly established by the Vatican and various European countries.

Although Gu Qing had beheaded those high-level Void Beasts capable of destroying nations, low- and mid-level monsters scattered across Europe continued to wreak havoc. The Western elites, like frightened worker ants, gathered all their top theologians, magicians, and physicists, attempting to grasp at a last straw.

"Your Excellency! The battle data for practical analysis is in!"

A mage wearing a white coat but with a high-ranking cross pinned to his chest ran over excitedly and slammed a report on the table.

Cardinal Alexander, his eyes bloodshot, abruptly stood up: "Speak!"

"Our previous use of power was too crude!" The researcher's voice trembled with excitement. "Based on our reflections on previous battle losses, we changed our approach. The paladins no longer blindly unleash holy light to kill monsters; instead, they are trying to concentrate the high concentration of holy light inward, using it to nourish their physical bodies!"

"What was the result?"

"A miracle! Absolutely a miracle! The knights, tempered by the high pressure of holy light, have had their bone density permanently increased tenfold, and their nerve reaction speed has surged by nearly 400%! They can now see the attack trajectories of low-level void creatures in close combat and directly dodge and counterattack!"

Alexander gripped the cross tightly, his parched lips trembling uncontrollably: "Praise be to my Lord... We are evolving! What about the magicians?"

"The mages have also completed the tactical iteration! We've eliminated the lengthy incantations during battles, and instead, before the battle, we pre-inscribe the magic circuits of defensive spells like 'Divine Barrier' into our robes and shields in the form of miniature magic circles, achieving a pre-set defense that 'triggers immediately upon attack'! Casting speed has increased by an order of magnitude!"

The researcher grew increasingly excited, pointing to several supercomputers churning wildly in the distance: "Not only that, the First Mage Corps is working on even more advanced spellcasting techniques. Once the 'Mental Resonance Model' is established, we'll be able to completely abandon syllables and achieve true 'silent spellcasting,' even 'dual casting'—constructing different spells with both hands simultaneously! At that time, the West's combat power will experience a qualitative leap!"

Hearing about these successive breakthroughs, the previously oppressive atmosphere in the basement vanished. Alexander was moved to tears, as if he could see the West rising from its stagnation and ultimately shining brightly on the day of the Kingdom of Heaven's arrival.

"Good! Excellent! As long as we continue to dig deeper..." Alexander stared intently at the enormous crystal ball before him, "How's the progress of the origin analysis? Since that Eastern 'god' mentioned 'spiritual energy,' it means that magic and cultivation are essentially based on the same energy source! As long as we find the conversion formula in between..."

The researcher, who had been all excited just moments before, suddenly looked dejected, sweating profusely as he stared at the garbled data on the screen.

"Your Excellency... no. We can optimize combat techniques, but the underlying logic is completely locked down. As long as we input a specific magical waveband, the energy will automatically generate a shield, and we can't find the formula that changes in between! It's like a 'black box' with a pre-programmed sequence..."

"Then smash it open! Dismantle it!" Alexander roared. "Without the formula, we'll be forever locked into our current limitations! How can we fight against that sword hanging over our heads?!"

Just as the fervor in the basement was once again replaced by anxiety—

"Don't waste your energy. Even if you had ten thousand years, you still wouldn't be able to open that box."

A calm, clear, yet undeniably authoritative Chinese voice suddenly rang out in the enclosed underground space.

"Enemy attack!"

"Protect the bishop!"

The entire underground laboratory erupted in chaos. Thanks to the newly developed "preset defense," more than a dozen high-ranking paladins and mages reacted extremely quickly. In almost half a second, dazzling holy light and various complex magical barriers suddenly lit up in the dim basement, protecting Alexander firmly in the center.

However, the next second, everyone's breath caught in their throats.

Directly in front of the magical barrier, the indestructible alloy gate remained intact. The space there rippled like water, and an Eastern youth dressed in a blue Taoist robe and carrying a long sword stepped out from the void as if strolling leisurely.

The person who arrived was none other than Chu Tian, ​​who had come after receiving the mission.

He didn't even glance at the Western superhumans who were on high alert, nor did he care about their supposedly impressive reaction speed. Instead, he observed the supercomputers with great interest.

"How did you get in?! The 'Grand Cross Sealing Array' outside wasn't triggered!" Bishop Alexander's voice trembled, but he still tried to remain calm.

"A sealing array? You mean that junk pile up there, made of inferior light-attribute spirit stones arranged in an equilateral symmetrical structure?"

Chu Tian shook his head, a hint of undisguised pity flashing in his eyes.

"I just modified the light refractive index and spiritual energy flow threshold in your array nodes. Now it not only doesn't alarm, but it also actively helps me block vital signs."

Chu Tian glanced at the group of archmages who looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy, a mocking smile playing on his lips:

"I overheard for a while outside. Holy Light tempering? Preset spells? Still researching silent casting and dual casting? It sounds like an inspiring evolutionary history."

"But that's why I say you're wasting your time."

Finally, a hot-tempered European archmage, unable to bear this humiliating disregard any longer, roared, "Stop playing tricks! The mysteries of Western magic cannot be denied by a few words from you!"

He suddenly raised his staff, and a long, obscure incantation poured out rapidly. Because a loop had been pre-set, the casting speed was astonishing.

"The raging fire spirits—[Meteor Shower]!"

Boom! The fire element in the basement instantly surged, and a huge, dark red fireball radiating terrifying heat formed above Chu Tian's head, about to crash down.

Bishop Alexander did not stop him; in fact, he secretly hoped so. As long as Chu Tian took defensive action, the supercomputer would be able to record the energy wave pattern from the east!

However, Chu Tian did not draw his sword at all.

He simply raised his hand slightly and snapped his fingers.

"Smack."

A crisp sound.

The meteor shower, which had reached its peak and was about to explode, went out with a "poof," just like a candle flame whose oxygen had been instantly drained.

It turned into a wisp of insignificant blue smoke and dissipated into the ventilation duct.

"This...this is impossible!" The archmage knelt on the ground with a thud, staring at his empty staff with a look of utter disbelief. He had clearly already channeled his magic!

Chu Tian sighed, walked to a supercomputer, and casually ripped off a data cable.

"Your understanding of power is so primitive it's appalling."

Chu Tian looked at the stunned Bishop Alexandria and began to deconstruct the text, word by word:

"Do you think that speeding up your incantations, learning to inscribe formations on your clothes, or even casting spells without opening your mouth means you've grasped the truth?"

Chu Tian's gaze turned extremely cold, as if he were looking at a group of children building castles in a sandbox.

"That's why you can never crack that black box. At best, you've just memorized the 'system manual' better and learned how to press the controller buttons faster. But as long as the external environmental parameters are modified, your button operations are just a bunch of meaningless nonsense."

"And we in Kunlun..."

Chu Tian twitched his fingertips slightly, and the previously lifeless fire element in the air instantly went berserk. Without incantations, without a staff, and without any pre-set magic array, a pure white fire lotus slowly bloomed in his palm.

But upon closer inspection, the fire lotus was not a flame at all, but rather composed of countless extremely tiny rune codes that were rubbing and colliding at high speed!

"The 'Tao' we cultivate is about understanding the laws of thermodynamics, mastering the laws governing molecular motion, and writing the 'underlying code' of this world!"

"If I want to extinguish your fireball, all I need to do is use my divine sense to slightly modify the 'oxygen concentration variable' and 'spiritual energy ignition parameter' within your casting range. Your fireball will then naturally die in its infancy."

Dimensionality reduction strike.

It's no longer a crushing defeat in terms of military force, but an absolute crushing defeat in terms of cognitive dimensions and the depth of civilization!

Bishop Alexander's legs gave way completely, and he collapsed to the ground. The newly ignited flame of hope was extinguished by Chu Tian's cold, hard reality.

Pre-set defense? Silently chanting a spell?

This is like a player who only knows how to type "up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B" in Contra, thinking he has the fastest hand speed in the world, only to find that the opponent just unplugs his power and modifies the game's underlying C++ source code!

They're not even on the same level!

Chu Tian casually crushed the fire lotus in his hand, took out a golden scroll with the Kunlun Taiji diagram printed on it from his sleeve, and tossed it carelessly onto Alexander's face.

"The dean is fully aware of your petty tricks. But he doesn't care, because the schemes of ants are meaningless."

"This cathedral is being requisitioned starting today. This is the 'Global Spiritual Realm Development and Defense Agreement'."

Chu Tian looked down at this group of once high and mighty Western dignitaries, his voice as cold as iron:

"Since you still have some labor force, Kunlun will set up an 'overseas outsourcing office' here. All high-level superhumans from Western countries will be incorporated into labor camps to mine spirit ore and clear out low-level void beasts for Kunlun."

"Good job, here's a few protective talismans for you. If you don't do a good job, you'll become food for the monsters."

Having said that, Chu Tian turned to step into the void, but he paused, slightly turning his head, leaving behind a final warning that would plunge the Westerners into an icy abyss:

"By the way, the mining artifacts and defensive arrays issued by Kunlun are all in Chinese as their underlying system language."

"If you don't want to die a gruesome death on the battlefield because you can't unlock the magic weapon's defensive lock... starting tomorrow, have everyone in your country throw English into the trash and start memorizing the Tao Te Ching."