Reunion after a long separation
Second floor
It was empty, with only the late Nascent Soul guards standing by the elevator. They were responsible for registration and maintaining order on the second floor.
"Qianluo?" The two confirmed the information was correct, nodded, and let her pass.
Qian Luo walked through the long corridor and came to the complex and sophisticated mechanical door in front of her, which had fingerprint recognition, face recognition, iris recognition, and even Nascent Soul recognition.
After passing numerous certifications, she arrived at the core area of Taiyin Group - the experimental base.
Before his eyes were glowing experimental subjects and constantly moving monks. All of them had reached the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage and were only one step away from becoming a God. They wore simple and plain white coats with four words embroidered on them: Taiyin Group, highlighting the glory and honor of the Taiyin Group.
"The pursuit team?" A female cultivator stared at her for a few seconds, glanced at her work ID, and handed her a pile of information. "This is the data we verified. They are all escaped experimental subjects. Take a look for yourself and catch as many as you can!"
"Xiao Wang, the T2799 data is unstable, come and take a look!"
"I'm coming!" The female cultivator had no time to deal with Qianluo, so she turned around and went back to work.
Qian Luo took a few jade slips and scanned the area. Qian Ruixue was not there, so it seemed that he was still in the building.
Then let's catch a few more experimental subjects and test their opinions.
…
“Huff…”
The cold wind whistled past, carrying snowflakes that hit the woman's face. Her originally pretty face looked haggard due to days of running around. Her hair was messy, and there were obvious bloodstains on her face and arms.
"No...you must not go back!"
She bit her tongue, desperately circulated her spiritual power, flew at high speed, and shook off the pursuit team behind her.
"There she is!" someone suddenly shouted.
The monks around were chasing her with all their might, and she was flying through the forest like a meteor. The female monk tried her best to escape, running all the way, her heart pounding like a drum, her head covered in cold sweat. She absolutely could not go back!
She was furious, if she was caught, she would definitely...
“Hmm!”
Suddenly, a spiritual force imprisoned her, making her unable to move. She was shocked: "Who!"
It's definitely not the hunt team! If they had, they would have joined together long ago!
The person who came had no intention of killing her, so she had no chance!
"Shh!"
I don't know whose voice it was, but suddenly a terrifying snow tower appeared before their eyes, emitting a bright blue light, covering the two of them tightly. The chasing team members didn't even blink, as if they didn't see it!
What a treasure this is that it actually evaded the detection of the Nascent Soul level hunting team!
"Where did it go that was just here? My detector has never made a mistake!"
"Maybe it's underground! Let's go!"
More than a dozen Yuanying-level pursuit team members immediately dug deep into the ground, vowing to capture the escaped wanted criminal alive!
Qianluo led the female cultivators to escape thousands of miles away, away from the pursuit team. As an innate spiritual treasure, the Tongtian Snow Tower also has hidden functions.
The female cultivator was still in shock. After she had rested, she inexplicably glanced at her "savior". The girl in front of her was wearing the uniform of the Taiyin Group's pursuit team, but she had saved her.
This made her not know how to start.
Qian Luo spoke first: "I have a friend who had the same experience as you. I want to know what happened to you in Taiyin Group? Why did you escape from the second floor of the Taiyin Group branch? What are those laboratories used for?"
This statement actually let the female cultivator down. It turned out that she had infiltrated the Taiyin Group to save a friend. She spoke carefully, "Thank you for saving my life. My name is Ye Qingying, and I was originally an ordinary cultivator in the Fourth District."
"But after my Nascent Soul breakthrough, these people captured me without telling me the reason. They possessed many treasures and were highly skilled in cultivation. I was no match for them. The Taiyin Group imprisoned me for a hundred years. A while ago, the second-tier security system had a problem, and I and other imprisoned cultivators were lucky enough to escape."
"I don't know my friend's name, maybe he was lucky enough to escape."
Qian Luo thought about it. If he had really escaped, she wouldn't have met Qian Ruixue in the basement three years later. She shook her head and said, "I've checked the wanted list, and his name isn't on it."
Ye Qingying was certain: "If it's not on the second floor, then it must be in the basement of Taiyin Group."
Qian Luo was puzzled: "Oh? You were imprisoned for a hundred years, so how do you know that Taiyin Group has a basement?"
Ye Qingying: "We spend the whole day facing the experimenters who record data. Occasionally, they mention the experiments in the basement during their conversations. We've been imprisoned for a hundred years, and although our consciousness is not very clear, we can still hear a few words from time to time."
She looked at Qianluo and pondered, "I think the Taiyin Group's capture of us might be related to our cultivation level. Their experimental subjects were all Yuanying cultivators. I didn't understand their intentions at the time, but during my escape, within a hundred years, the Taiyin Group rose rapidly thanks to something called a psychic chip."
Hatred flashed in her eyes. "Every time I touch the psychic chip, I feel very uncomfortable, and countless images flash through my mind. Perhaps they are making psychic chips by extracting some of our characteristics."
"After I escaped, I lived with the imprisoned monks for a while. After communicating with them, I discovered that our cultivation speed was faster than that of ordinary people. In an era of scarce spiritual energy, we were able to quickly break through to the Nascent Soul stage within a few hundred years. This is a rare talent even in the era of abundant spiritual energy."
"But besides having only one spiritual root, our constitutions aren't anything special. Without knowing the truth, I thought it was God's blessing that we were gifted. But I never imagined that this tiny bit of luck would be the death warrant for all of us."
When she thought of her time at the Taiyin Group, she wanted to kill them immediately: "The experimenters inserted tubes into our mouths, noses, arms, and thighs... They were using our vitality to make raw materials for psychic chips."
"That must be it. Otherwise, why would the Taiyin Group have quickly taken over the upper three districts within a hundred years? Countless sects and families have attached themselves to him, and those arrogant leaders and elders have become the Taiyin Group's watchdogs. Those who disobey will only meet their end."
"The psychic chips and spiritual training chambers are merely the Taiyin Group's means of controlling the vital points of the cultivators in the upper three districts. The cultivation levels once painstakingly acquired can now be easily acquired with just a tiny, thin chip, a level that others would never achieve in hundreds of years, or even their entire lives. Those Nascent Soul cultivators who have been implanted with psychic chips are likely just gilded exteriors, rotten within, unable to defeat even a Core Forming cultivator."
The more Ye Qingying spoke, the more she felt she had exposed the Taiyin Group's conspiracy: "Given the Taiyin Group's sinister intentions, I'm afraid the psychic chip also has unknown secrets. Perhaps the owner behind the Taiyin Group can control all psychic chips, and the cultivators who possess psychic chips will be under his control. By then, the Tianyan Continent will be in the hands of the Taiyin Group, and the owner behind the Taiyin Group will become a local tyrant, with the final say, looking down on the Nine Districts."
Qian Luo didn't say anything after hearing this. She wasn't surprised, because all the previous simulation information had already told her that the owner behind the Taiyin Group must have some unknown secret. The Yuanying Mechanical Corps overran the entire Ninth District, and the battle was raging, and the blood flowed like a river.
We must stop him!
Qian Luo: "But... didn't the Immortal Cultivation Alliance exist before? Now they..."
Ye Qingying spread her hands: "The Immortal Cultivation Alliance is only made up of the aristocratic families. Now that they have all defected, the Immortal Cultivation Alliance naturally no longer exists."
Qian Luo thought of Chu Lianxi and Wu Xingxue. These two people came from aristocratic families and now worked for the Taiyin Group.
"The person in charge of the Taiyin Group has never been seen. Some say he has a high level of cultivation, surpassing the Nascent Soul stage. He may have even reached the Divine Transformation stage, crossed the Dead Sea, and is searching for a more mysterious path to immortality!"
Ye Qingying opened her mouth and told all the gossip she knew.
Her eyes darted around. The female cultivator before her had no murderous intentions towards her. Despite her youth, she was already at the mid-Nascent Soul stage. She hadn't panicked at the mention of the psychic chip conspiracy, so she must have achieved it through her own strength. She also possessed the Snow Tower magical treasure, making her even more impressive. A good acquaintance wouldn't be a bad idea, especially since they shared a common enemy.
"Where exactly are you going next?" Qianluo asked back.
This was a question for Ye Qingying. She didn't know where to go. District Nine was so big, but unfortunately it was already part of the Taiyin Group. She didn't know where a pursuit team would appear from anywhere and take her back.
"Fellow Daoist, do you have any suggestions?" She raised her eyebrows with a flattering look on her face.
Qian Luo did have an idea, because after rescuing Qian Ruixue, she also had to take good care of her. She looked at the Tongtian Snow Tower in her hand, which was perfect for hiding her whereabouts.
"Enter the tower, and they will never find you again."
Ye Qingying was dumbfounded. The thought of her bringing the pagoda to work every day to punch in was simply... simply too cool! The most dangerous place is the safest place. Those hunting team members would never have thought that she would appear in the Taiyin Group with such openness!
"Okay, sister!" Ye Qingying immediately climbed up the pole. Her luck in this life has not yet run out, and she actually met a good person!
"But, your mission..." Ye Qingying smiled awkwardly. Although she was infiltrating the group to gather information, she was still a member of the Taiyin Group's pursuit team. If she didn't catch...
Her eyes lit up and she sneered, "I have a particularly annoying person who was also captured for research. I now know the direction he escaped. You can capture him and claim the reward!"
Qianluo: “…Yeah.”
Half a month later, Qianluo captured a fugitive experimental subject and completed the task.
The pursuit team members praised her highly and the experimenters were extremely enthusiastic towards her.
Hey, wait! According to Ye Qingying... the Taiyin Group would capture cultivators who had achieved a Nascent Soul breakthrough naturally without the help of a psychic chip. Was she among them? Why didn't the Taiyin Group capture her?
Could it be that she... had stayed in the Frost Blue Secret Realm for too long, causing the Taiyin Group to be unaware of this news?
That should be it... I can't think of anything else...
…
A year later, with Ye Qingying's help, she was like a fish in water in Taiyin Group and was almost promoted to captain. She had free access to the second floor of Taiyin Group, and even the guards at the door who were in the late Nascent Soul stage treated her as a brother.
"Captain Qianluo, you're finally here!" Xiao Wang walked over quickly, looking panicked. "Please save me!"
Qian Luo was puzzled: "Haven't most of the escaped experimental subjects been caught?"
Xiao Wang's face turned even uglier when he heard this: "We've almost caught the experimental subjects on the second floor, but there's a new problem in the basement. We're done!"
Basement! Qian Ruixue!
She suppressed her excitement and looked puzzled. "Researcher Wang, please don't tell me there are experimental subjects in the basement. My team and I have been catching them for a year and we have only caught a few. Please don't add to our workload!"
Researcher Wang closed his eyes, his expression dazed. "Do you think I'd say so?"
Before Qianluo could even speak, the captain next door rushed over with murderous intent: "Your security system is broken again! Didn't they say there was a ninety-nine and eighty-first floor firewall?"
"Yeah! I've been out here for a year, living in the open, and I haven't caught anything. And now you tell me I'm lost again. What's the point of your security system?"
The other researchers explained, "Captains, calm down! Those subjects are incredibly clever and cunning. We were simply careless for a moment!"
"Don't worry, we've already reported this to headquarters. Chu Lianxi and Envoy Wu Xingxue will be accompanying us, which will significantly reduce the risk..."
Someone murmured, "Reduce the risk. Why do I feel like if those two come, our lives will be in danger?"
"That's right, come over here and show off your power and order people around!"
"Captain Qianluo, isn't that right?" Du Yajun next to her raised her eyebrows at her.
Qian Luo, who was now on equal footing with Du Yajun, chuckled and said, "Let it be."
But what I was thinking was: This is different from the simulation. Could it be that there are so many variables when entering Taiyin Group in advance?
"No, no, if this continues! I quit. There are so many people to catch every day!" Someone threw in the towel with a look of despair on his face.
The other cultivators all joined in support, unable to bear the daily grind of capturing people and sleeping in the open air. They were Nascent Soul cultivators, once known for their ability to control the wind and rain, yet how could they, after a century, be the ones suffering the most?
Researcher Wang looked embarrassed. "We've already contacted headquarters and Envoy Wu Xingxue and Envoy Chu Lianxi will be coming to help you soon. There's no need to worry."
But no matter how much he said nice things, these people would not listen. If soft tactics didn't work, he would have to use hard tactics. Who wanted these people to be lazy and unwilling to work?
Instructor Zhang, standing behind Researcher Wang, sneered at them. "If you can't recover the experimental subjects, then you won't have a good life. Those experimental subjects have truly achieved Nascent Soul stage breakthroughs through their own diligent cultivation. They're much better than you, the superficially strong but weak ones. And there's no guarantee these experimental subjects will spread rumors. Such rumors will affect the Taiyin Group's stock price. If the Taiyin Group goes bankrupt in the future, won't that also affect you, the employees of the Sun Group?"
"Besides, you achieved Nascent Soul cultivation through the psychic chip. But don't forget, the psychic chip isn't forever useful... Batteries eventually die, let alone the chip? Can you guarantee it won't malfunction for a thousand years? If you want to advance further and obtain the Nascent Soul Great Perfection psychic chip, then do it here. Don't say such depressing words."
These words frightened the monks: "Yes, yes, we should listen to Master Zhang! We and the Taiyin Group are on the same front, we can't have internal strife! Now is a critical moment, let's capture those experimental subjects first!"
With a slap and a date, Instructor Zhang's expression eased considerably. He began to make a big promise: "Everyone, rest assured. We are fully researching the psychic energy chip for the God Transformation Stage. As Nascent Soul cultivators, we still have hundreds of years to live. Unlike ordinary humans, who only have a lifespan of a few decades, we will create more valuable psychic energy chips within our limited lifespan. With hundreds of years left, everything is possible."
Although it was a big pancake, everyone ate their fill. After all, Nascent Soul cultivators do have a lifespan of 1,000 years, and they will pass on the technology from generation to generation in these hundreds of years. They will have the psychic chip of the Nascent Soul stage, not to mention the psychic chip of the God Transformation stage. As long as there is enough time, nothing is impossible.
"We have to thank the great Venerable for everything. Thank him for creating miracles for the monks in District Nine!" Instructor Zhang made a closing speech that startled everyone, especially some reckless and hot-blooded monks who said they would fight for the Taiyin Group for another 500 years.
Qian Luo looked at the elderly Professor Zhang, whose hair was white and whose skin was wrinkled, and who looked very tired. It was estimated that he would not be able to hold on for many more years, and it was still unknown whether he could wait for the experimental subject to return.
"According to the situation, most of the experimental subjects have already fled. Is Qian Ruixue among them?"
She pursed her lips, her heart pounding as she stared intently at the list of escaped experimental subjects before her: Yu Asan, Liu Shicheng, Su Zhi, Lin Shan, Wang Junjie, Yao Ke, ...
"That's all the list, thank you for your help!"
Qian Luo stared at Researcher Wang's back, then turned and followed him. "Old Wang, are the remaining experimental subjects safe? I hope there won't be any more problems?"
Lao Wang stroked his glasses and smiled bitterly: "Captain Qianluo, please stop laughing. The rest of you are locked up in the basement. Several high-level formation masters have been sent to reinforce the formation!"
Qian Luo touched her chin and said, "A formation master would be great. Our team is short of a formation master. Could you recommend one for me?" She looked eager to recruit talented people and urgently needed technical talents.
Researcher Wang was embarrassed: "But this person is very arrogant! And he doesn't want to be disturbed during work... You..."
"Please, Lao Wang, just let me see you! Talking while working won't waste time! Could it be that a high-level formation master can't create a formation just because he said one more word? That's impossible!" Qian Luo stuffed a storage bag with a pitiful look on her face. "Please, Lao Wang, we've been comrades for so many years, please help me. I really can't stand those idiots in our team. They always hold me back. I'm really in urgent need of a technical talent. Help me!"
"Okay! But I'm just letting you meet once. It may not work, so don't..."
Qianluo pretended to swear: "I swear I will never..."
"Okay, okay, it's not a big deal, why bother with the Heart Demon Oath?" Researcher Wang interrupted her immediately, "Come on, let's go. We're in the basement. Follow me..."
"Okay!" Qianluo followed with a smile.
Du Yajun, who was standing behind him, saw the female cultivator following Researcher Wang obediently and raised her eyebrows in surprise. Where were they going?
…
The entrance to the basement research institute required passing through layers of checkpoints, which were even stricter than those on the second floor and required Researcher Wang's spiritual recognition. If she came alone, she would definitely not be able to pass these levels.
Looking at the world in front of me with flashing neon lights and layers of steel bars, it is like a huge cage, and a roaring tiger is trapped in the cage.
Basement... I got in so easily. Would Qian Ruixue be here?
"Look, the senior formation master is over there!" Researcher Wang pointed in a direction. Qian Luo looked in the direction and saw several formation masters in white robes working diligently.
After Researcher Wang showed him the way, he began to care about the people in the basement and did not pay attention to her. She seemed to ask the formation master a few questions casually, but in fact her eyes were fixed on the cabin next to her, where there were monks with pale faces and closed eyes sleeping.
"These are all cultivators above the middle stage of the Nascent Soul, and they are full of tricks. Don't be fooled by them closing their eyes and looking powerless. In fact, the fluctuations of their spiritual consciousness are enough to show that they are not giving up and want to escape!" A formation master sneered.
"People should accept their fate. In the past, Nascent Soul cultivators were high and mighty, looking down on everyone else and treating us Jindan cultivators like ants. But now, Nascent Soul cultivators can only be reduced to materials for making psychic chips, at the mercy of others, reduced to livestock."
He patted the glass of his subordinate's cabin and said a few words to Qian Luo: "Look, this guy was a genius who shocked the Amaterasu Sect a hundred years ago. Although he had mixed spiritual roots, his cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds. He was arrogant because of his talent and was deeply favored by the head elders of the Amaterasu Sect. Even the current envoy Chu Lianxi was overshadowed by his brilliance."
Qian Luo's heart skipped a beat. Trying to calm herself, she turned and looked, her gaze fixed on the transparent glass. Through the blue light, she could clearly see the man, incredibly frail. If it weren't for the still-moving movement of his chest, one would have thought he wasn't alive. He was dressed in snow-white, tightly wrapped in a moon-white robe. His chest revealed his snow-white skin. Several long, terrifying tubes were inserted into his chest, draining his nutrients and squeezing out his worth.
His hair was as white as snow and his face was as pale as a snowman.
She thought that when they met again, she would see him full of vigor and vitality, arrogant and cold, or ambitious and upright like a gentleman. She didn't expect to see him so weak.
Her throat was choked and tears flashed in her eyes. She tried hard to suppress her surging emotions and said something secretly in her heart.
Qian Daxue, long time no see...
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