The infinite sword system has been mastered, and you say this is the dragon clan?

Chapter 293 If this continues, the secret party will be destroyed!

Wei Gong and Lao Tang never expected that they would run into people from the Zhou family while traveling.

No, the Zhou family's territory should be in Xiangyang, which is far away. The Wahuang Palace is obviously just a tourist attraction built in the mountains... No, that's not necessarily true. After all, Tang City in Xiangyang is also a local attraction. Isn't it still occupied by members of the Zhou family?

"Is this really also the Zhou family's?"

“Not really.”

When the two were led into the hidden space under the mountain, Lord Wa, who emerged from the underground palace, finally saw the familiar faces she had not seen for a long time, and greeted them with a happy smile.

"This place isn't the Zhou family's main ancestral home. Normally, no one lives there permanently, leaving only a few people to guard the underground. Although it's uninhabited, it can be considered a major ancestral land used for ancestral worship."

Both Wei Gong and Old Tang were close acquaintances of the Zhou family, so Lord Wa had no reservations in explaining.

Of course, this is the family history of the past. In order to develop the thought disk, the current Wahuang Palace has added new uses.

Emiya nodded, his eyes slightly widening as he surveyed the area. So, the Zhou family's ancestor was indeed Nuwa. According to mythology, Nuwa's biological father was the "Lei Ze Dragon God." Given the ancient history of this world, where dragons were the dominant race, Nuwa was essentially the heir of the dragon bloodline.

"Yes, Shirou, thanks to the inspiration you provided, the initial version of the thought disk can now officially enter the trial stage."

Wazhu smiled and held one of Emiya's arms. The fresh and elegant fragrance instantly dispelled the dampness of the underground space, and the smooth and soft skin gently rubbed against the elbow.

As for Old Tang on the other side of the road, after this scene happened, he immediately put his hands behind his back, raised his head and whistled, pretending not to see it.

"Eh? What do you mean, what is my inspiration?" Emiya recalled the time he spent at Zhou's house. It seemed that the research progress of the thought disk was completely stuck at that time.

"That time you suddenly called me from Japan."

What Wa Zhu was actually talking about were the "inner scenes" Taoist secrets from the Zhou family during the Holy Grail War, including ancient Taoist books such as the "Huangting Sutra".

In order to complete the inherent barrier, infinite sword system, Emiya once discussed these things with the Lord of Wa, and he successfully constructed the mental landscape through the inner scene method.

Judging from the tone of Lord Wa's voice, she seemed to have gained something new from that exchange?
"It's about refining Qi into spirit. I've said that before."

"The so-called magic training is merely a means of gathering and refining life energy and concentrating it within the human body. It's a method of refining essence into qi. The next step in cultivation is to achieve the fusion of qi and spirit."

Emiya nodded as he listened to Wa's theory. This was the approach they had discussed earlier.

It seems that in the method that Lord Wa understood, the way of inner visualization is the key to refining qi and transforming it into spirit, and one of the elements of truly becoming an immortal.

And in this world, there's the Nibelungen, which is essentially a re-skinned version of the inherent barrier. If it were in Shenzhou, it would be a completely different story, right? Perhaps it's a blessed land where immortals cultivate?

"Indeed, the human body is a microcosm, while the universe is a macrocosm. Ultimately, the human body and the universe are mutually exclusive. The first step in cultivating the Dao, completing the refining of essence into energy, is to use energy as a channel to connect with the universe. Going one step further, using the mental imagery of the landscape as a channel, we begin to communicate with our will and thoughts..."

"Finally, the Refining Void and Harmonizing the Dao is achieved, where one's body is completely integrated with the heaven and earth. Once one reaches this stage of cultivation, one can be called a true celestial being, becoming one with the Dao of heaven and earth itself."

The fact that Wazhu became the head of the family at such a young age was certainly due to his great talent, so he spoke eloquently and repeated the conclusions he had drawn from the Taoist scriptures and old papers.

"...The Great Dao of Heaven and Earth." After hearing the words of the Lord Wa, Emiya murmured. He recalled the nature of this world—a super-giant inherent barrier, or in other words, a closed world enclosed by a canopy. The various Nibelungs and inherent barriers were merely imitations of this world structure.

The Thought Plate uses the diverse landscapes of China as a reference to create its interior, forming a blessed land and cave paradise. Is it a variant of the inherent barrier form?

Lord Wa smiled without saying anything, as if she wanted to keep him in suspense. She took his hand and walked through the long corridors and conference halls, all the way to the depths of the underground palace.

She stretched out her hand and pointed in a certain direction. Emiya and Old Tang opened their eyes and saw the end of the downward road. It was an extremely wide space that had been excavated. The flowing mercury mixed with the alchemical solution circulated in the space to form a whole.

Huge blurred light and shadows are projected from it, turning into a three-dimensional landscape model - if you squint carefully, you can find familiar miniature mountain and river scenery in it.

It is as if the mountains, rivers and earth have been transformed into pure inner scenes and integrated into it.

Looking around, the moving miniature landscape looked like some ancient creature breathing, with a slight hissing sound echoing in the air. The complex hexagrams formed dozens of pure lights and shadows that intertwined all around, arranged and operating in a regular pattern, just like a sophisticated and ingenious calculation machine.

Emiya blinked, "This is... the thought disk? No, this is just a part of the thought disk, right?"

It looked like a large power calculator, like the central mechanism built to run some larger system.

"You can say that."

Lord Wa nodded and suddenly clapped her hands.

"Thought key pattern, inspiration."

The world began to change.

The dark underground environment filled with moist water vapor was covered with countless narrow white cracks in just a moment. Then the surrounding environment was torn and dissipated like fragile pieces of paper that were cut randomly, and the vast and strong light surged and filled the field of vision.

"what?"

Emiya had a sense of déjà vu of an inherent barrier opening, and he himself had experienced it, so of course he could remember this unique experience.

"Wow, what an awesome spell! This place actually has a whole other world!"

Old Tang was also screaming nearby, and was so shocked by the sudden beauty that he ran around in a disorderly manner.

Emiya also opened his eyes speechlessly and looked at the magnificent mountain and river scenery where "the sky was connected to the clouds and the morning mist was connected". The hazy sky light at dawn and dusk covered the whole area, and the misty air floated up from the mountainside.

Green trees grow on the steep cliffs, the crisp chirping of birds echoes between the peaks and valleys, the gurgling water makes a tinkling sound, and looking down from a high place it looks like a pure white silk thread, snow-white waves crash against the shore, and schools of fish swim slowly in the undercurrent.

Is this a permanent barrier? If so, its scale is far too large.

No, according to the design of the thought disk, this thing should be a system similar to a cloud-based shared network disk. To put it bluntly, it is a huge network that integrates the thoughts and magic of all magicians into one.

So this place...

Wazhu explained softly, "This place was not created by me alone, but by the entire Zhou family, and even by generations of our ancestors."

"Ancestors?"

"Wuhuang Palace is the ancestral home of my Zhou family. If the Thought Disk is to achieve a massive scale, it cannot be accomplished by one person alone. It requires the gathering of many, many more thoughts. Only in this way can this mental landscape be indistinguishable from the real world... Shirou, do you still remember 'Dragon-Breaking Terrace'?"

"……Um."

Emiya wondered what the connection was between the Dragon-Breaking Platform and this Thought Disk?
Wait, it brings together the thoughts of our ancestors?

The Dragon-Breaking Platform given to him by the Zhou family, he remembered that Lord Wa had said before, was a treasure inherited from the souls of many ancestors of the Zhou family.

Clang.

Under the surprised gaze of Lord Wa, the treasure, Dragon Breaking Platform, instantly appeared in Emiya's hand.

Facing the other party's confusion, Emiya casually explained, "I took it out from my inherent barrier."

Now that he has completed the Reality Marble: Unlimited Blade Works, retrieving his Noble Phantasm has become simpler, essentially a matter of directly using mana to extract it from the Reality Marble. Emiya observed the Dragon Slayer Platform, and things that had previously been obscure in his mind became clearer than ever before. Sure enough, the soul consciousness within the Dragon Slayer Platform shared a striking similarity with the collective thought of the Zhou family ancestors that formed the Thought Plate.

With the strengthening of his soul consciousness, even without divine power, Emiya's Dragon Severing Platform reappeared with mythical might. The same was likely true for the Thought Disk.

The more you concentrate a large amount of thoughts and integrate them into a huge network of consciousness, the more you can display extraordinary levels of magic.

By linking with the thought disk, the thought key pattern obtained is equivalent to a privileged secret key. The thought key pattern possessed by Lord Wa is probably enough for her to perform fairy-level magic similar to the power of gods!
"…Am I right in my guess?"

"Hehehe, Shirou is indeed a genius capable of killing gods. I have finally gathered the strength of my entire clan to develop a huge system, intending to catch up with the world outside that is changing at an increasingly rapid pace!"

Wa Lord clapped his hands softly, "You actually revealed the crucial point in just a few words. You're worthy of being the one!"

At this time, Old Tang's figure had already run away to who knows where, so she held Shigong's hand and shook it gently, and the snake's tail quietly climbed up to her waist.

Emiya helplessly looked at the other person's porcelain-white face leaning rashly on his left shoulder, and instantly felt a sense of familiarity - Wazhu was still Wazhu. Although they hadn't communicated much in the past due to busy schedules, she was still the same as before...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

While Emiya and others were leisurely traveling in Shenzhou, enjoying the scenery and nature, a group of people on the other side of the earth were already in a hurry.

120 meters below the Kassel Institute of North America.

This is the Institute of Alchemy and Scientific Engineering Applications, also known as the "Watt-Alheim Institute", commonly known as the Equipment Department.

Director Akadullah looked anxious, as if he was facing a great enemy. A group of men from the equipment department, more than a hundred of them, also gathered around the conference table. They were all uneasy and distracted... as if they were waiting for a verdict that would punish them with torture.

boom!
Deputy Director Carl stepped into the door with heavy footsteps.

"What's going on? Are they really going to cut funding?"

Akadula was like a lion biting its prey. Before Carl could even open his mouth, his rough big hands grabbed both of his shoulders, making a slight cracking sound.

It turns out that what made these psychopaths feel like they were being strangled was the academy's decision to reduce funding for the equipment department!

"Ouch, Chief, calm down!" Carl was so hurt by Akadula's unprecedented force that his face twitched wildly.

"How can you expect me to calm down? This is a matter of life and death for the Equipment Department! It concerns whether we can all enjoy fresh and healthy burgers, fries, and cola combos every Thursday!"

"Don't panic, Director. The intelligence is true. They really are going to cut funding."

"Oh, so the information was fake... Huh? What? It's actually true! Have you confirmed it? Why would they do this? What's the reason?!"

"Alas, it's too late to say anything now. Last time, our secret misappropriation of funds for research on the 'Big Carrot' was exposed. I heard that the user, Finger, was not very satisfied and sent us a complaint!"

"What?! We worked so hard to give him that hidden technology, and he actually did this to us? Next time, we'll stuff this guy's quest item with an Alchemical Explosion patch!"

"Forget it. We have no chance of getting him. After Finger graduates this semester, he will be assigned to a branch office. We won't have the chance to meet him again."

"hateful!"

Akadullah completely lost his means, his expression changed to anger in an instant, and he burst into tears like a sad man who was 1.9 meters tall, and the more than 100 men around the table also wailed everywhere.

As the only sober person in the Equipment Department, Deputy Director Karl finally managed to appease a considerable number of people and said:
"Everyone, the intelligence I bought from the News Department is absolutely true and reliable. If nothing unexpected happens, then something unexpected is going to happen to our Equipment Department—the real reason the Board of Directors is starting to massively cut our funding is because of the inexplicable Chaldea Project!"

"Chaldea? What is that? An observatory?"

Carl was also a little confused when faced with the questioner. "I don't have very detailed information. It's said that it's a plan to prevent the end of humanity. It was proposed by Gattuso, one of the school's directors. It was also reported to the UN, and they plan to unite many major powers..."

As soon as these words were spoken, a normal person would probably gasp in shock. A mere inexplicable Chaldea plan was not enough for the secret party to plan on its own, but required the manpower and material resources of such a national power. It was simply terrifying!
But there was no normal person present, every one of them was a psychopath.

UN? A superpower? I don't know! The drones they've developed could knock down the Twin Towers! Their improved alchemical bombs could sink Japan! Chaldea, appearing out of nowhere, actually wants to challenge them?

Carl held his forehead, feeling that he couldn't communicate with them anymore. He turned to look at Akadula and found that he was still wiping away tears like a child.

"Director! What are you doing, Director?"

What's with that look in your eyes? What's with those tears? Can your tears save the Earth? Can they restore the Equipment Division, which is about to be shattered and withered?

"...Then what should we do?" Akadula said in a low voice. "Tell me, without funding, how can we survive? We're supposed to be the Adam of the New World, but the board of directors doesn't recognize us. They actually want to rely on a mysterious Chaldea to save a world doomed to destruction!"

"They want to pool their strength to prevent future destruction, so we can save the world too!" Carl argued. "Director! Let's start planning a new plan, submit it to the board of directors, and defeat that weird Chaldea!"

"...You're right!" Akadullah seemed persuaded, "We can't just sit there and wait for death!"

"Indeed, so we should pick ourselves up and save the world!"

"That's right, saving the world, there's nothing our equipment department can't do!"

Akadullah began to cheer, and a group of men responded immediately, and even Carl looked relieved.

That’s right, tech geeks save the world!

"So, Director, let's quickly discuss a new plan and present it to the Board of Directors—"

"No," Akadula said with a deep look in his eyes, "Karl, do you really think this is a good choice?"

"Ah?" Carl didn't know what was wrong with the director.

"The rumors of internal strife in the school board have been around for a couple of days, right?" Acadora had also heard about it. The Senate, Angers' faction, and Gattuso's faction were blaming each other over the "internal investigation" incident. The news could be blocked at the beginning, but after so many months, it could no longer be covered up.

"Weakness externally, internal strife, and the obviously flawed Chaldea Plan...if this continues, the Secret Party will be finished!"

Carl was inexplicably shocked. The director suddenly made a sensational public statement about the "secret party pill". Oh my god, is this something he can say?

...Oh, this is the Equipment Department, no matter how crazy the remarks are, you can really say them.

"The Secret Party has fallen to this point, Carl. We must now find another way out!"

Akadullah slowly stood up and turned on the stereoscopic projection program on the conference table. Text images began to flicker in the air.

"I received a job offer from the Atlas Academy. You all know them, right? They're the ones that appeared in the intelligence records of the Japanese Holy Grail War. It's said that the weapons of the godslayer were also created by them!"

A three-dimensional image of the large mecha "Susanoo" appeared before their eyes.

"Ohhh! A real big carrot! Can I learn it just by going in?"

"Of course!"

Akadula's eyes were sharp and his tone was profound, instantly earning him admiring glances. At that moment, his slender figure seemed so majestic in the eyes of the members.

(End of this chapter)