The ancient subterranean cave of Mount Tai Sector 02 echoed with the low, ominous thrumming of twelve highly specialized tactical drones. The air was thick, suffocatingly hot, and saturated with the scent of uncorrupted sapphire energy bleeding from the central floating Core Marrow Font.
Bai Qingxi stood perfectly still, her pristine crimson corporate suit contrasting sharply with the bleak, ash-choked background of the primeval inheritance node. Her cold, calculated gaze slowly shifted away from the altar, tracking the slow, unhurried footsteps of the youth who had just emerged from the purple smoke.
"Lin Feng," Bai Qingxi murmured, her aristocratic composure freezing as her internal data network scrambled to re-calibrate his threat level. "The regional tracking files from the Jiangnan sector logged you as a common survivor. Zhao Ming's intelligence briefs labeled you a statistical fluke. Yet, you managed to bypass the Central Bureauâs high-security perimeter and enter a primary geocentric rift without a localized stabilization key."
"Your data network is built on historical assumptions, Director Bai," Lin Feng replied softly, his voice echoing through the massive jade labyrinth with a deep, spatial resonance. He didn't pull his hands from the pockets of his gray utility jacket. "Youâve spent millions of yuan deploying seismic drills and tracking grids across the northern valley, thinking you could automate the acquisition of an ancient world-inheritance. You didn't calculate that when the true fault line layout opens, your machines are no more resilient than common brittle glass."
"Eliminate the independent variable," Bai Qingxi commanded flatly, her thumb pressing down hard on her wrist-mounted interface module. "Code Crimson. Purge the path and secure the sapphire orb before the sanctuary's atmospheric density collapses."
The response from the twelve tactical drones was instantaneous and mechanical.
With a high-frequency whine that shattered the nearest loose crystal formations, the machines re-aligned their synchronized weapon mounts. Twelve high-intensity, concentrated thermal laser lines erupted simultaneously through the thick white steam, converging precisely toward Lin Fengâs throat, chest, and knee joints. The sheer heat generated by the baseline volley was explicitly engineered to melt through three inches of reinforced military bunker plating in less than a millisecond.
Han Xue took a involuntary, sharp step backward onto the fractured jade platform, her hands tensely reaching into her silk trench coat for an ancestral defense talisman. She had experienced Lin Feng's unyielding physical density during their morning encounter, but this overlapping corporate payload carried an automated kinetic force that defied standard flesh refinement parameters.
But Lin Feng didn't invoke an external barrier, nor did he shift his stance into a defensive martial form.
As the twelve boiling crimson laser lines slammed squarely into his torso, Lin Feng simply took a single, slow inhalation, activating the stabilized dual-loop circuit of his
Qi Circulation ChannelingâStage 2
foundation.
SCALPELâCRACK.
The moment the high-intensity thermal streams made contact with his porcelain-smooth, pearlescent skin, the energy didn't penetrate his cells. Instead, the highly compressed geocentric current circulating through his
Du Channel
acted as an absolute, unconditional energetic ground. The immense kinetic and thermal weight of the corporate lasers experienced a total, devastating structural reflection.
The twelve tactical drones violently shuddered mid-air, their internal targeting logic boards instantly frying as the reflected thermal payload traveled directly back up their own optical data lines.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A rapid succession of explosive mini-detonations ripped through the air as all twelve multi-million-yuan drones violently burst into showers of burning magnesium and twisted aluminum scrap. The shattered hulls rained down harmlessly onto the volcanic sand surrounding Lin Feng's sneakers, their glowing silver insignias darkening into absolute vacancy.
Bai Qingxiâs fingers froze instantly over her wrist module, her immaculate, pale face turning a stark shade of mottled ash. The optical sensors built into her high-tier corporate visors were flashing with a continuous, chaotic stream of system errors, unable to process how a bare human container could ground a synchronized military-grade thermal strike without a single mark of friction or chemical burn.
"Mechanical torque cannot override the layout of the earth, Director Bai," Lin Feng said smoothly, his vacant, bottomless eyes looking through the black smoke directly at her trembling frame. "Your corporate ledger is officially empty inside this sanctuary."
He took another step forward, his shadow stretching across the primeval cave like an approaching mountain line, completely redrawing the boundaries of their arrogance within the deep rifts.