Starting My Cultivation With Time Management-Chapter 904 - 44 Formulating Strategy
Chapter 904 -44 Formulating Strategy
Facing the world-ending catastrophe, different people have different attitudes.
Most people would certainly think, “Let me ascend quickly, so I won’t have to stick around in this soon-to-be-destroyed world”—fast, safe, no hassle, isn’t that perfect?
However, with only a thousand years left before the apocalypse, cultivators in the Golden Core Realm don’t have enough time to achieve Feather Transformation, and even most Nascent Soul cultivators will meet their demise. What should happen to these fellow disciples? Thus, there are those with grand ambitions, like the Penglai Myriad Phantoms Immortal, who want to protect their sect, at least to buy the disciples with lower cultivation levels more development time.
The powerful figure who established the Golden Cicada Temple likely had similar intentions, right?
Towards such selfless and compassionate individuals, Ming Zhi has always held an attitude of profound reverence, admiration, and respect. Therefore, he made a difficult decision—to steal the Heaven-Mending Stone fragment that sustains the Heavenly Dome Formation in this pocket dimension and use it to mend the heavens. This way, the spatial tremors won’t endanger the monks anymore—what a brilliant solution!
“Your suffering, from now on, will be borne by me!”
Ming Zhi calmly stepped through the ruins of the small town and continued forward.
The small town was built on a flat area at the foot of the mountain. Further ahead was a massive rift, encircling both the town and the entire mountain range—it seemed to mark the boundary of this pocket dimension.
He silently activated scanning mode, and countless runic scripts spiraled upwards from the rift’s depths, converging at the peak of the mountain and forming a massive semi-circular protective shield at the edge of the Heavenly Dome.
Peering further into the rift’s depths, Ming Zhi chuckled and said:
“Judging by the curvature of the cliff walls, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone installed a nuclear-powered jet engine down there—otherwise, how else could the fractures be this smooth?”
“What’s nuclear power?” asked the Summoning Sword.
“What’s a jet engine?” asked the Kunlun Mirror.
“You don’t need to know,” Ming Zhi replied calmly. “Ah Jing, hurry and locate that Heaven-Mending Stone fragment for me.”
Kunlun Mirror: ………
She quickly expanded the scanning range, patiently searching inch by inch. Just then, Ming Zhi added:
“No need. Judging by the current formation, the Heaven-Mending Stone fragment serves as the Formation-Stabilizing Artifact, and it’s definitely located at the formation’s center—in other words, the most suitable spot would be the very core of this pocket dimension.”
“The core of this world…” Kunlun Mirror mused for a moment and said, “It seems to be beneath the Buddhist temple, within the mountain.”
“We could use the Five Elements Divine Light to break in,” suggested the Summoning Sword.
“Let’s not rush.” Ming Zhi considered for a moment and shook his head. “We need to first determine if the Golden Cicada Temple has any other contingencies.”
“Otherwise, if I just grab the Heaven-Mending Stone, some hidden old monster might show up and smack me dead with a single slap—wouldn’t that be a disastrous mistake?”
“Where are all these old monsters coming from?” The Summoning Sword laughed. “Sword Master, you’re already in the Nascent Soul Realm and a First Grade Immortal Infant. Even if an immortal descended, you could still wrestle with them. Are you afraid of this small Golden Cicada Temple?”
“Define ‘wrestling with immortals,'” Ming Zhi immediately retorted. “If I could beat immortals, why would I need so many backup identities? At best, I can barely manage to escape with my life.”
“Well, isn’t that enough?” The Summoning Sword goaded him. “Steal the Heaven-Mending Stone fragment and have Ah Jing teleport you out afterward! Since this pocket dimension of the Golden Cicada Temple is isolated from the world, it doesn’t matter if the Heaven-Mending Stone fragment gets stolen—heck, even blowing up the whole dimension wouldn’t be a problem.”
“No, it would still be a problem.” Ming Zhi deliberated for a moment and said, “Number Two is here inside the temple, monitoring things. If there’s any major commotion, the Hell Path might suspect me.”
“Furthermore, my apparent purpose here is to gather information. If I were to leave abruptly, how would I explain that to the Hell Path?”
“In that case, wait until the Hell Path gives you permission to leave before going after the Heaven-Mending Stone,” Kunlun Mirror suggested.
“Hmm.” Ming Zhi replied indifferently, “If I keep idling like this, the Hell Path might grow impatient with me.”
Over the next few days, Ming Zhi indeed restrained himself significantly, even skipping borrowing Buddhist scriptures on certain days.
He spent all his time in his room. Don’t ask what he was doing—if asked, the answer was: sleeping!
The elderly monk in charge showed no reaction, evidently having completely dropped his guard against Ming Zhi. However, Jianxing couldn’t hold back any longer. Using the opportunity of cleaning Ming Zhi’s room, he stealthily transmitted a secret message:
“Number Nine, so many days have passed. Have you gathered any information?”
“Number Two,” Ming Zhi replied coldly, “Have you gathered any information?”
“I haven’t.” Jianxing seemed a bit embarrassed and reminded him, “Don’t forget, the sect leader sent you here because he was dissatisfied with how slow I was in gathering intelligence!”
“I understand you’re anxious, but don’t rush.” Ming Zhi said leisurely, “The Golden Cicada Temple’s situation is indeed strange and complex, leaving no clear opening… Let me ask you, have you tried forcibly breaking in? I noticed the monks here don’t seem to have cultivation levels.”
“Let’s not resort to force.” Jianxing said gloomily, “A few years ago, some monks rebelled.”
“Rebelled?” Ming Zhi asked in surprise. “Explain further.”
“Well, I’m not sure of the reason, but they started fighting.” Jianxing hesitated before answering, “A bunch of people surrounded the main hall, demanding an explanation from the abbot.”
“And then?”
“Then they exploded on the spot.” Jianxing stated.
Ming Zhi: ???
“Exploded on the spot—what do you mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like,” Jianxing replied. “No signs of any spell or formation activating—although maybe my cultivation level is too low to detect it. Anyway, all those monks literally exploded, showering the ground in front of the main hall with blood and flesh, leaving no clean area.”
“The novice monks who witnessed this were ordered to keep silent. But what’s even stranger is that about a month later, all the exploded monks appeared back in the temple, and their behavior was identical to before their deaths.”
“In such a fiendish place, you talk about breaking in by force? Go ahead, give it a try—I’ll watch. If you manage to obtain useful information, you’ll have performed a major service for the sect.”
“Haha, I was just saying.” Ming Zhi immediately changed the subject. “What were those monks demanding of the abbot?”
“An explanation,” Jianxing said.
“What kind of explanation?”
“I don’t know.” Jianxing added, “We novice monks were just observing nearby. They probably didn’t dare to reveal anything in front of us. They only kept shouting at the abbot, ‘We can’t wait any longer; we need a definitive answer!'”
“Now that’s interesting.” Ming Zhi started pondering. “After exploding and resurrecting, do they still retain their old memories?”
“They do,” Jianxing hesitated for a moment before answering. “Although I didn’t dare to probe further, the way they look at the abbot seems much more reverent and fearful than before—of course, that could just be my imagination.”
Uncertain, everything is “maybe”—your intelligence-gathering skills are truly terrible. No wonder Daoist Luo sent me here to clean up your mess!
Ming Zhi was slightly dissatisfied with Jianxing’s account, but considering how eerie this place was and how Jianxing was just a moderately cunning youth, being cautious and hesitant in such a dangerous environment was understandable.
Speaking of that technique that causes people to explode on the spot… What exactly is it?
“It’s spatial tremors,” Kunlun Mirror suddenly said.
