Chapter 1260 - 1120: Escape

Besides the lack of communication, Fourth Master's cultivation results are poor, partly due to his own issues.

Mountain Fortress originally had lost hope, so cultivation was naturally not very enthusiastic.

The key is that he does not believe that the cultivation method modified by Qu Jianlei can bring him any revolutionary change.

He acknowledges the leader's prowess in modifying cultivation techniques, though he hasn't elevated it to a top-tier level; at times, he feels his own habits aren't bad.

These are the three factors, coupled with age, that have led to his lack of significant progress.

Silver Fir assisted him by analyzing carefully and conducting a thorough body check.

The other party's condition is still good, having reached the pinnacle of A-level, showing some progress but quite stable.

Consequently, he provided several targeted suggestions.

Fourth Master recorded this seriously, taking notes as well.

However, in the end, he couldn't help but ask, "Do your suggestions represent the leader?"

"Of course they do," Silver Fir replied without hesitation, "He has long wanted to come, but cannot clone himself."

This person... turns out to be taught by the leader? Fourth Master was secretly surprised.

He thought, in terms of personal advancement, the leader might prefer to guide Old Ben or Flower Scorpion!

Nonetheless, Bentley did not express any dissatisfaction, and Fourth Master could only suppress this doubt.

Latterly, Silver Fir also communicated with Youyou, giving several reasonable suggestions.

This brought the matter to a close, with Bentley's group of six using teleportation to leave Paradise Star.

Xiang Xue experienced "near-earth warp" for the first time, having heard about it several times before.

Upon entering the 6502 ship, she calmly expressed, "The ride isn't that bad... Finally, able to reunite with the main force."

Meanwhile, on Qingyuan Star, Qu Jianlei, who was in seclusion, was summoned by the Nutrient Injection.

Since the clone Silver Fir left, everyone on Qingyuan Star fully entered a state of rest and cultivation.

Qu Jianlei also rarely had a complete rest; calculations were done at Little Lake, with no other affairs, and the sense of improvement was quick.

Every five or six days, he would come out for a walk, similar to the two-day-a-week rest rhythm on Blue Star.

Today is only the third day of cultivation, yet Nutrient Injection called him, suggesting the matter might be significant.

Upon meeting, Nutrient Injection spoke anxiously, "Your clone... How is Silver Fir now?"

"Not really sure," Qu Jianlei shook his head in confusion, "The distance is truly far, and I'm currently calculating related improvements."

Seeing the other's anxious expression, he couldn't help but reveal a small secret.

"Even if there's an issue, it won't be major; if he suffers a loss, I would have some sensation."

This is indeed the secret of the Clone Technique; he cannot sense the clone's actions, but he can vaguely feel its destruction.

Nonetheless, since the other was worried, revealing a little didn't matter.

Upon hearing this, Nutrient Injection breathed a slight sigh of relief, "The guy who bought the Marvel of Heaven and Earth... something happened."

That blob akin to transparent gel was purchased by an unknown force, and later Qu Jianlei didn't dwell on it.

Although his team is quite capable, they truly lack the tradition of forceful usurpation.

Everyone frequently earns small fortunes purely due to the leader's constitution.

However, seeing Nutrient Injection's appearance now, Qu Jianlei understood, "Is it the person who consumed it... something happened?"

"Not consumed, absorbed," Nutrient Injection first shook his head, then nodded, "It's not just the person who's in trouble."

The force that successfully bid was Qu Jianlei's longtime opponent, the Divine Text Association.

Nutrient Injection had connections in the Divine Text Association and got the news immediately.

The one wanting to absorb the gel was an aging Supreme.

Apart from the significant contributions he made to the Divine Text Association, another crucial reason was his consent to the Association fully witnessing the process.

Initially, the gel struggled greatly, but the Association's measures were sufficient to keep it from escaping.

However, as time passed, ten-plus days later, the gel's struggle began to weaken.

Two months later, its struggle grew even weaker, prompting the Association to adjust their analysis.

The aging Supreme intended to fully absorb the gel, which should take between eight months to two years.

The time range was large, but there was no choice—such experiments are exceedingly rare; maybe no one has ever done it before.

Despite this, the Association remained vigilant, readying various strong measures to be deployed at any time.

Yet, one day, three months later, when a supervisor went to adjust the equipment, the gel broke free instantly.

Its explosive power and the intense fluctuations completely overturned everyone's understanding.

All on site unanimously believed that, at the initial absorption stage, the gel had not revealed its true strength.

After roughly five months of endurance, it finally erupted.

That is to say, not only did this thing have enough intelligence, but it also knew how to conceal its prowess.

This is an unsettling fact, but even more terrifying is that it actually escaped the lab!

The ultimate reason lies in the responsibility of that person.

This individual was not only a Supreme but had also frequently observed and adjusted the equipment, so there shouldn't have been any major errors.

Yet, before everyone's eyes, a long sword jumped out of the Storage Talisman in the responsible person's possession.

The gel quickly approached the long sword and then instantly vanished.

Then the long sword soared into the air, slicing through the laboratory's layers of defense, disappearing into the sky in the blink of an eye.

The whole incident, reportedly lasted only about a second, after which the gel disappeared completely.

The reason for the term "reportedly" is because even a Nutrient Injection couldn't gather more detailed information.

For the Divine Text Association, this was an extraordinarily significant accident, besides needing to promptly report it, they had to tightly seal the information.

Under such circumstances, that a Nutrient Injection could find out part of the information was already quite extraordinary.

Because of this, upon receiving the news, he rushed to inform Qu Jianlei, fearing that the boss might follow suit.

Upon hearing this, Qu Jianlei hurried to check on the Golden Crow Bing, only to find that the guy was sound asleep in the Soul Nourishing Wood.

During this period, it had been absorbing Spiritual Qi, nearly doubling in strength, but its absorption capacity was gradually declining.

Qu Jianlei believed that this creature's growth potential might not be great, with limited development ceiling.

However, since the gel cleverly deceived the enemy, he certainly couldn't repeat its mistake.

The slumber of the Golden Crow Bing was essentially emptying its mind, with virtually no electromagnetic fluctuations.

When it noticed the visitor, it started moving, "Where is my replacement body? Is it still not ready? Hurry up!"

Qu Jianlei observed the other's behavior without noticing anything unusual, so he responded.

"The original core is still under testing, don't rush. Do you really want to force me to make a counterfeit body for you?"

Stepping out of the Spirit Gathering Array, he steadied himself and asked, "That long sword… is it a Divine Text Treasure?"

Hearing this, the Nutrient Injection shook his head, "At present there is no more detailed information, I'm mainly worried that you might be targeted."

"But according to my analysis, the probability of it being a treasure is very high. The Divine Text Association's laboratory truly has formidable defenses..."

As he said, even if several Supremes were locked inside, it wouldn't be easy to escape quickly.

Of course, the longer the time, the more likely the guards would be alerted, making it harder to escape.

In such circumstances, a long sword capable of quickly breaching defenses and escaping, its combat power... is simply unimaginable.

Qu Jianlei knew that information might have a certain delay, especially since this news was still under strict secrecy.

However, he didn't sit idly, instead, he gathered other companions to relay the message.

This was to let everyone focus on the Golden Crow Bing, trying not to give the opponent any chance to escape.

It's fortunate that Bentley, the one with the most sinister hands, wasn't present, or else he might have suggested eliminating the opponent.

Five days later, intelligence gradually came in bits and pieces, finally summing up a general situation.

Firstly, it can be confirmed that the long sword is a treasure of the Divine Text System, said to be neither gold nor stone, not particularly long.

Nevertheless, the sword wasn't particularly sharp; its ability to act mainly came from receiving a large amount of energy support.

The person with the sword was also a researcher, and the sword was a shared property between him and the Divine Text Association.

Why it was shared is actually due to operational mechanisms, not to be detailed, but anyway, it wasn't always in his possession.

Usually, when researching the sword, he wouldn't bring it to such an important laboratory.

However, the gel's resistance was weakening, and although he was strictly adhering to the rules, he inevitably felt a bit relaxed.

That's also human nature—shouldn't a sword and marvel of heaven and earth like these not have any connection?

He took the sword to the laboratory four times, and the first three times didn't encounter any issues.

The fourth time, when this change occurred, even he was speechless, unable to provide any explanation.

Furthermore, at that time the laboratory's defense strength could withstand three consecutive strikes from the strongest Gold Attribute Supreme!

The defense intensity could continue to improve, but the resource consumption would dramatically increase, and it wasn't a linear rise.

The Divine Text Association wasn't short of money, yet there were numerous research topics. Since projects were being undertaken, certain rules must be followed, right?

In short, the project team was careless this time, but the process was meant to be like this.

If someone insisted, exceptions might be made, but the financial audit after the project... would become very dangerous.

The most terrifying thing is that the power unleashed by one strike of the sword was approximately equal to the combined strike of seven or eight top-notch Gold Attribute Supremes.

Hearing this alone is terrifying, let alone the fact that normally, even if one could gather such many Supremes, it would be difficult to replicate the same power in one strike.

What serves as evidence is that reportedly, when the sword flew out, someone above Supreme attempted interception but failed.

As for who this superior was, and whether they were injured during interception?

The Nutrient Injection believed that with his intelligence capability, it would take at least half a year to obtain more precise information.

Also, the issue that Qu Jianlei had been focusing on was whether the gel could enter electronic equipment, which now has an answer.

(Updated to the point of calling for monthly votes, additional subscriptions, and recommendation tickets.)