Chapter 224 - 222: Exotic Realm Intelligence

Yang Shen split off from the main group as soon as he arrived.

Inside the securely locked room were just four people: Xu Mo, Deng Ming, Chen Beiwang, and Yang Shen.

Apparently, Yang Shen was also considered a core member of this "special project." Even Shen Juanzhou wasn’t qualified to come in.

It was hard to say whether this was due to Yang Shen’s own unique abilities or his connection to the Xu Family.

’Probably a bit of both.’

Xu Mo looked at Yang Shen. "Yang Shen, now that we’re here, there’s no need to hide it any longer. Could you please demonstrate the Curse Engraving Power you’ve mastered?"

Yang Shen observed their expressions as Xu Mo added, "Rest assured, I’ll vouch for you. I’ll even get you an official endorsement so you can use it openly in the future."

"I suspect you aren’t the one who personally mastered the Curse Engraving, but don’t worry. I’m only interested in the Power of the Curse Engraving itself."

Chen Beiwang added, "I’ll vouch for you too. I can’t get you an official endorsement—I can’t protect you from the big stuff, but I can handle the small things."

Deng Ming scratched his head. "Since you’re all vouching, I guess I will too. Though I have no idea what you’re talking about... Am I guaranteeing the big stuff or the small stuff?"

Yang Shen nodded, having made his decision.

The Curse Engraving was a Power he was quite proficient with, but it wasn’t his core secret.

Not even the Twin Dragon Jade. His Cultivation was the real secret.

He held out a hand. The next moment, a black substance emerged from his palm, rapidly condensing into a long spear.

Xu Mo’s eyes lit up. "It seems you’re already very proficient with it."

Yang Shen placed the spear on the table. Xu Mo took it and ran two fingers along its length as if they were a blade. "This is an incredibly pure Curse Engraving, far more authentic than the ones we’ve managed to replicate..."

Yang Shen said, "I saw Shen Juanzhou use the Power of Curse Engraving as well. How far has the research progressed?"

Xu Mo nodded. "During our previous explorations, we’ve already made contact with several of the major clans in the Noon Realm and conducted some trades. I’ll explain the situation and the ecosystem there later."

"As for Curse Engraving, in the Noon Realm, it’s a Power passed down through bloodlines. This limitation arises because the engraving process, repeated over generations, enhances a bloodline’s affinity for a specific Curse Engraving. So when a Martial Artist attempts to use one, the effects are diminished due to a lack of affinity."

"The goal of our project is to make Curse Engraving more universally applicable. Its current strength is far from sufficient. At best, it can only benefit those at the Marrow Refining Realm; it’s not even efficient for Innate Martial Artists."

Yang Shen thought for a moment. "It also has to do with how it’s used. At least with the type I’ve mastered... I mostly rely on its utility, not its raw strength."

"Oh?" Xu Mo asked, his interest piqued. "Could you demonstrate?"

Yang Shen raised his hand, instantly condensing a mask. It wasn’t the helmet he usually wore, nor was it Long Jiu’s mask; it was completely unremarkable.

He placed the mask over his face. "For concealing my features, for instance."

Then, he condensed another spear, and a small, crescent-shaped blade quickly sprouted from the side of the tip. "Or to alter a weapon’s form mid-battle to catch an opponent off guard."

"Throwing them is also very effective, giving you a virtually endless supply of weapons. Their hardness is comparable to steel, and they’re even more resilient."

"I’ve even seen the Tattooed Guest cover his entire body with it, altering his human form to overcome its limitations in water. He added structures like a tail and webbed fingers, allowing him to swim at high speeds."

Xu Mo nodded. "The Curse Engraving you’ve mastered is what we call ’Curse Engraving: Shadow.’ Its utility is indeed in a class of its own, but not every Curse Engraving is like that. For example, the one Shen Juanzhou has mastered is called ’Curse Engraving: Wind.’ If it lacks sufficient strength, it’s no better than Magic Tricks."

Yang Shen nodded. "So, what is the mission?"

Xu Mo pushed his glasses up his nose. "Everyone has their own task. Your role, as... possibly the most proficient Curse Engraving user on Cyan Blue at the moment, is to provide us with inspiration."

Yang Shen raised an eyebrow. "You mean... meetings every day?"

’I came all this way just for meetings? Why not just join via satellite from the Yang Residence?’

"Of course not. ’Providing inspiration’ means you’ll need to go to the Noon Realm and interact extensively with the Shadow Race."

Xu Mo smiled. "In fact, you’ll be spending most of your time in the Noon Realm..."

————

Just as Xu Mo had said, after the special team arrived, everyone took up their designated roles.

Xu Mo’s students primarily served as research assistants, including an employee from the Life division, Shi Jia.

Even Chen Beiwang was to remain at the base. As Xu Mo had put it bluntly, "With your level of strength... you’d be a liability inside."

Chen Beiwang didn’t mind. He was a researcher by trade and had no great desire to visit the Exotic Realm anyway.

He was just here to pad his resume and clear his name from that last major project where he took the fall.

As for the two detectives, one was required to stay at the base to help investigate and prevent espionage from other nations, while the other would enter the Exotic Realm. Yang Shen had expected Luo Sheng to volunteer for the Noon Realm, but surprisingly, Luo Sheng stayed behind and Zheng Tao went instead.

Thus, the team entering the Noon Realm was set: Xu Mo, Deng Ming, Yang Shen, Zheng Tao, and Guan Shan with his Living Blade—five people in total.

At this point, the purpose of including the very unique Guan Shan became clear: Yanhua wanted to try inscribing a Curse Engraving onto the Living Blade.

Whether it would prove useful was another question, but there was always value in seeing how two unique specimens interacted.

Because they had explored it several times before, Yanhua already had a foothold in the Noon Realm, so the team wouldn’t be completely without support.

That evening, Xu Mo gathered the five of them and used a slide presentation to brief them on the situation in the Noon Realm.

"Everyone, I’ll start with the most important points. The Noon Realm is a ’parched’ planet. There are almost no sources of clean water on the surface, and the known population is no more than 20,000."

These details were top secret; only those directly involved were qualified to learn them.

The others frowned slightly, and Deng Ming exclaimed in surprise, "Only 20,000 people on the entire planet? How is that any different from being extinct?"

Xu Mo nodded and clicked the remote. The slide changed to a wide-angle photograph of a small, ancient-looking town with towering walls.

"The Noon Realm people are at an extremely low technological level, which makes it difficult for us to obtain more reliable information. For now, we have to operate under this assumption, at least until we’ve fully explored the planet."

"The information we have is limited to their continent, and it’s all passed down through oral tradition, so its reliability is low. However, even if there are other Noon Realm people on other continents, they are likely also on the verge of extinction. Their numbers wouldn’t be significant."

It was an entire planet and a technologically backward population; Cyan Blue couldn’t possibly grasp the full picture so quickly.

"In reality, they have been teetering on the brink of extinction for nearly a century. Almost the entire current population belongs to the ’Twelve Clans.’ Each clan commands its own Curse Engraving and has its own stronghold, most of which were established around sources of clean groundwater."

"They discovered the Gate of the Exotic Realm before we did and sent a scouting party through half a year ago. Unfortunately, their technology is so primitive that they can’t cross the ocean or utilize its resources. On a related note, Harmony Island has no natural fresh water; they rely entirely on rainfall, with no means of storing it."

"They have endured centuries of calamities, and their lives are incredibly difficult. Their social structures, ways of thinking, moral values... none of it can be judged by conventional standards. Please keep this in mind."

"Our current development strategy is ’peaceful engagement.’ Every Noon Realm Native is precious; do your best not to kill anyone. The Twelve Clans each have their own agendas, but their needs are actually easy to satisfy. You just need to humor them a little."

’He’s right... With only 20,000 people left on the entire planet, every single life counts.’

’It’s the same principle as protecting an endangered species. It doesn’t matter if they’re useful or not; you can’t let them be wiped out.’

’Huo Jun would be absolutely miserable here, wouldn’t he?’

’Wait a minute... the Madman told me to come here and kill someone... Who am I supposed to kill?’

’He couldn’t have been talking about Martial Artists from other countries, right? That seems... inappropriate.’

Zheng Tao posed a question, "Professor Xu, what drove the Noon Realm to this point of near-extinction?"

Xu Mo clicked the remote again. "I was just about to address that. The cause of humanity’s near-extinction in the Noon Realm is believed to be a ’Source Climate.’ This is a conclusion we’ve drawn from the Noon Realm people’s accounts, though we have yet to encounter it ourselves."

"Source Climate?"

"Correct. It’s a disastrous, planet-wide climate phenomenon in the Noon Realm, caused by source mutation. The Noon Realm people call it the ’Calamity Plague,’ and the Calamity Plague brought about the ’Corpse Calamity’..."

"The two combined to cause the great extinction of humanity in the Noon Realm."

It was only then that Yang Shen understood what the live chickens, ducks, and freshwater fish aboard the Sea Cape were for.

They were there to help the Noon Realm base and its people rebuild their ecosystem.