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"How many of you are left? Where are Li Tu and Gui Sou? How did you find the Holy Mountain?" he asked in quick succession, his voice carrying an undeniable pressure.

The burly cultivator glared angrily, remaining silent. The thin, tall cultivator, on the other hand, darted around, seemingly searching for an opportunity to escape.

Chen Ye, too lazy to waste words, walked up to the tall, thin cultivator, covered his right hand with the power of holy blood, and pressed it on the top of his head.

"Soul Search".

"No—!" The tall, thin cultivator let out a shrill scream, but his voice was blocked by the barrier. His eyes quickly became dull, and memories unfolded before Chen Ye like pages of a book.

A moment later, Chen Ye withdrew his hand, and the tall, thin cultivator was foaming at the mouth and had fainted.

From the tall, thin monk's memories, Chen Ye obtained the information he wanted:

Li Tu and Gui Sou were severely injured by the Starburst at the Burial Dragon Abyss, but they did not die. They were rescued by the remaining Iron Blood Alliance and Black Fiend Society cultivators and are currently recuperating at a secret stronghold on the outskirts of Black Wind Ridge. At the same time, they are gathering their remaining forces and seem to be plotting against the Holy Mountain, but the specific plans are unknown.

This five-person team was an advance party ordered to infiltrate the Holy Mountain to investigate. Their main mission was to find traces of Chen Ye and his group, as well as clues about the Holy Spirit Altar. They seemed to have been able to enter the Holy Mountain with the help of a broken magical artifact obtained from some ancient ruins, which could temporarily shield part of the restrictions on the outer perimeter of the Holy Mountain. However, the artifact was destroyed when it passed through the barrier.

They also had two other teams that infiltrated the sacred mountain from different directions, agreeing to communicate using communication talismans. However, there seemed to be interference inside the sacred mountain, limiting the communication range.

"The other two squads..." Chen Ye frowned slightly. It seems that the Holy Mountain is not peaceful either, besides the Dark Abyss and the potential Fallen Ones, there are also these persistent ghosts.

He looked at the burly cultivator. A resolute glint flashed in the cultivator's eyes, and he gritted his teeth!

Chen Ye reacted extremely quickly, striking his dantian with a palm, dispersing the self-destructive spiritual power he had just gathered.

"Want to die? Not so easy." Chen Ye said coldly, and then performed a soul search on him as well.

From the burly cultivator's memories, he gained more information about the strength and stronghold locations of the Iron Blood Alliance and the remnants of the Black Fiend Society, but they knew little about the secrets inside the Holy Mountain.

After dealing with the two, Chen Ye removed the barrier, cleaned up the scene slightly, erased the obvious signs of battle, and used holy light to completely purify the five corpses and their belongings (except for the communication talisman and the bronze mirror), leaving no trace of their presence.

He picked up the bronze mirror and examined it. It was a low-level detection artifact with a single function, but it was better than nothing. There were still three communication talismans left, which were child talismans in a mother-child talisman set. The mother talisman should be in the hands of Li Tu or Gui Sou.

"We need to notify Jiufeng and the others as soon as possible to be on high alert." Chen Ye put away the bronze mirror and communication talisman, identified the direction, and quickly sneaked towards the location of the third signal source that Jiufeng and the others had detected.

He had to rendezvous with his companions before the other two teams discovered the anomaly, or before Jiu Feng and his team made contact with the signal source.

The sacred mountain has a complex terrain and dense forests. Chen Ye pushed his speed to the limit while carefully avoiding areas where there might be danger.

About an incense stick later, he approached the approximate area of ​​the third signal source indicated by the "Star Key Resonance Disc".

This is a relatively gentle hillside with sparse vegetation, exposing large areas of grayish-white rock. Scattered on the hillside are some huge, seemingly metallic, rusty objects, half-buried in the soil, with strange shapes, resembling parts of some large machinery.

In the center of the hillside, there is a circular depression about ten zhang in diameter with neat edges. The inner wall of the depression is smooth and has a metallic luster, which is obviously not a natural formation.

Chen Ye hid behind a boulder and observed carefully.

In the center of the depression, three "people" stood quietly.

No, that's not a person.

They were three humanoid machines, each about two meters tall, constructed entirely of dark silver metal, with sleek lines and an aura of power! They had human-like forms, but their heads were smooth, curved, and lacked facial features, except for a thin, eerie blue slit in the center of their faces, like a single eye. Their arms were long and slender, their hands sharp metal claws, and intricate transmission mechanisms could be seen at their joints.

At this moment, the three mechanical guards stood in a triangular formation, facing outwards, their single, dark blue eye slowly scanning the surroundings, motionless, like three silent statues.

However, the energy fluctuations emanating from them secretly alarmed Chen Ye—each one had reached the late Golden Core stage! Moreover, the cold, precise, and orderly fluctuations were exactly the same as the third signal source sensed by the "Star Key Resonance Disc"!
"The Holy Spirit Clan's self-disciplined guardians? Protoss constructs?" Chen Ye wondered. Judging from their shape and energy characteristics, they were likely defensive machines left behind by the Holy Spirit Clan.

Where were Jiu Feng and the others? Chen Ye scanned the surroundings and quickly spotted them lurking behind a rock at the edge of the depression. They had clearly also noticed the mechanical guards and were cautiously observing, not daring to approach rashly.

Chen Ye breathed a sigh of relief; at least his companions were safe and sound.

He moved silently to the vicinity of Jiu Feng and the others, and made a concealing gesture.

"Brother Chen!" Jiufeng and the others were both surprised and delighted to see Chen Ye. They lowered their voices and asked, "Are you alright? We just heard an explosion over there..."

"We took care of a few tails." Chen Ye briefly explained the encounter with the Iron Blood Alliance/Black Fiend Society spies, then pointed to the dented mechanical guards, "Is it them?"

Master Yuxu nodded, his expression grave: "We just arrived. These three... mechanical puppets? They are very powerful, and seem to be in some kind of alert state. When we tried to approach within thirty feet, they reacted, locking onto us with their single eye, but did not attack us. We dare not make any rash moves."

Chen Ye observed carefully. Indeed, although the mechanical guards were stationary, they exuded a strong sense of impending doom. Moreover, their positions were precisely at the center of the "Star Key Resonance Disk's" strongest sensory signal.

The source of the signal is likely at the bottom of the depression, or it may be related to these mechanical guards themselves.

“They might be guardians left behind by the Holy Spirit Clan, programmed to protect something or prevent outsiders from getting close,” Chen Ye analyzed. “Forced entry is definitely not an option. Three late-stage Golden Core cultivators, plus a possible combined attack formation, would be difficult for us to deal with. Moreover, once a battle breaks out, the commotion will be too great and will attract even more trouble.”

"Then what should we do? Go around it?" Dongxu Daoist asked.

“If we go around it, we might miss the signal source.” Chen Ye shook his head. “Moreover, if the signal source is something we need, such as another fragment of the Holy Spirit Heart, or a clue to enter the Tower of Eternity, then we must obtain it.”

He pondered for a moment, looked at the "Star Key Resonance Disk" in his hand, and then at the three mechanical guards.

"Perhaps... we could try this."

He slowly took out the emerald green fragment of the Holy Spirit's Heart from his robes. The fragment lay in Chen Ye's palm, radiating a warm glow and vibrant life force. Although small, it contained a pure and vast power of the Holy Spirit's essence, a stark contrast to the cold, mechanical guards around him.

“This is…” Jiu Feng and the others stared intently at the fragments.

“A part of the Heart of the Holy Spirit, obtained from the Lost Garden,” Chen Ye explained briefly. “According to the prophet, the Heart of the Holy Spirit contains the most fundamental power and authority of the Holy Spirit race. Perhaps… it can influence the guardians created by these Holy Spirit races.”

He carefully held the fragment in his left hand, and with his right hand, he tried to separate an extremely weak wisp of holy blood power and inject it into the fragment, attempting to resonate with the holy spirit within it, and to spread this "resonance" outwards, pointing towards the three mechanical guards.

The fragment trembled slightly, and the emerald light brightened a little. A warm, inclusive, yet supremely majestic aura rippled outwards from Chen Ye like waves.

The aura swept across the hillside, past the metal debris, and finally touched the three mechanical guards in the center of the depression.

hum-

The three mechanical guards reacted almost simultaneously!
The single, eerie blue eye on their head suddenly flashed, its frequency increasing! The eye, which had been slowly scanning, abruptly froze, turning in unison towards Chen Ye's direction!

At the same time, a low, mechanical hum, like the turning of gears, emanated from their bodies, and their stiff metal forms slightly adjusted their posture, as if "examining" and "confirming".

"Be on guard!" Jiufeng shouted, and everyone immediately prepared for battle.

But the mechanical guards did not attack immediately. They simply stared intently at Chen Ye (or rather, at the fragment in his hand), their eerie blue light flashing continuously, emitting increasingly complex sounds from within, as if they were calculating and analyzing.

Chen Ye remained calm, continuing to maintain the resonance between the Holy Blood Power and the fragments, and transmitting this "Primordial Spirit Aura" more clearly.

Time seemed to stand still, and every breath felt exceptionally long.

Finally, after about ten breaths, the three mechanical guards stopped moving.

The mechanical guard in the center took a step forward.

Click, click.

Its metal feet clattered on the rocky ground. It stopped about twenty feet away from Chen Ye. Then, it raised a metal arm, palm up, making a gesture that resembled "showing" or "requesting".

At the same time, a cold, emotionless, mechanical synthesized voice emanated from a sound-producing device on its head:

"Detected... fluctuations in the source authority of a high-level Holy Spirit... fragment holder..."

"Authentication process initiated... Please present... more complete credentials... or... the activation key..."

As expected, they were guards left behind by the Holy Spirit Clan! They recognized the aura of the fragment of the Holy Spirit Heart and began to execute some kind of verification procedure!
Chen Ye's heart skipped a beat. A more complete authorization certificate? Did it refer to the complete Heart of the Holy Spirit? He certainly didn't have that. The activation key? What was that? Could it be the Star Crown? Or the "Ring of Watchfulness"? But the ring was currently depleted of energy, and the Star Crown didn't seem to perfectly match the description of the "key."

He tried to slightly reveal the light of the star crown above his head, while also displaying the "Ring of Watchers".

The mechanical guard's single eye swept across the star crown and ring, and a soft "beep" sounded from inside.

"Detected... Starcrown Beacon... Watcher's Mark..."

"Access level... Preliminary confirmation... Level B..."

"It complies with... the non-hostile contact regulations..."

The cold, mechanical voice seemed to have changed slightly. Although it was still devoid of emotion, the tone seemed to have softened a little bit?

"Holder... what... do you... want?" the mechanical guard asked.

Chen Ye felt relieved; it seemed there was hope for communication. He said loudly, "We are the inheritors of the Holy Spirit Clan, shouldering the mission of restarting the radiance of the Holy Spirit, repairing the Eternal Star Array, and fighting against the Dark Abyss. Passing through this place, we sensed a special energy fluctuation, so we came to investigate. We have no ill intentions whatsoever."

"Mission... confirmed... partially matches the core command." The mechanical guard responded, "This place... is the site of 'Stardust Repair Station Third Outpost'... We... are 'Border Ranger Type III' autonomous guards... codename: Alpha, Beta, Gamma."

"A repair station? An outpost?" Chen Ye caught the key words. "Was this once a place for repairing and maintaining something?"

“Correct,” replied the mechanical guard codenamed Alpha (the one in the center). “Main functions…maintenance and resupply…'Protoss Construct' series units…and…some…starship external modules.”

It paused, its single eye sweeping over Chen Ye and the others: "However... the facility... has been... severely damaged... in the... final war... energy supply interrupted by 97%... functionality... lost by 99.8%."

“We are ordered to guard the core database here and the emergency backup energy unit until the authorized person arrives or the instructions change.”

Core database? Emergency backup power unit?
Chen Ye's eyes lit up! This might be exactly what they needed!

"We need to enter the Tower of Eternity, navigate the Corridor of Starry Puzzles to obtain the Key of Wisdom, and then, at the moment of starlight convergence, enter the Star Core to awaken the Holy Spirit's Radiance," Chen Ye stated directly, explaining his purpose. "However, the situation inside the tower is unclear, and our power is insufficient. Obtaining information and resources from here might increase our chances of victory. May I ask if we can access the core database? And is the emergency backup energy still usable?"

Alpha's single eye flashed a few times, seemingly performing rapid calculations and searches.

"The request... meets... the terms of secondary assistance..."

"Core database...partially damaged...accessible area...limited...requires...backup energy..."

"Emergency backup energy unit... Status: Low power hibernation... Remaining energy: 3.2 percent... Can only sustain... short-term database access... and... our basic activities... Unable to provide... combat support... or... large-scale energy output."

Only 3.2% of the energy remained… Chen Ye's heart sank, but he understood. After all, countless millennia had passed; it was already quite remarkable that there was any remaining energy. (End of Chapter)