I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

He slapped the shard against his chest, then used the twisting power emanating from it to "collide" with the sneak attack.

The collision of the two forces resulted in the creation of an unstable spatial vortex.

A channel that can transmit data.

Li Wu opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the Iron-Blooded Emperor on the energy pad in the distance.

The man lay there, breathing evenly, the black lines of his skin faintly visible in the dim light, looking like a seriously wounded hero resting.

But Li Wu knew he had to confirm it.

He closed his eyes again, weaving the sliver of restored power of law into extremely fine threads.

So subtle that even Gu Yuan couldn't perceive it, it extended from the stone pillar, covering an area of ​​three meters around the Iron-Blooded Emperor like a spider web.

Law monitoring network.

Any unusual fluctuations in the laws emanating from the Iron-Blooded Emperor will be captured by this net.

After making the arrangements, Li Wu fell into a state of waiting again.

I don't know how much time passed.

Maybe an hour, maybe two hours.

The monitoring network detected the signal.

A faint fluctuation of law emanated from the sleeping body of the Iron-Blooded Emperor, pointing outwards.

The frequency is very low and the energy is extremely small; it would be impossible to detect without a pre-installed listening network.

But Li Wu recognized this frequency.

It closely matches the communication characteristics of the Starbreakers.

His heart sank.

After a while, footsteps approached.

Hua Zitong sat down next to him.

She didn't say anything, just sat there quietly, looking at the endless starry sky below.

After a while, she spoke, her voice very soft:

"You doubt Ironblood."

It is not a question.

Li Wu glanced at her sideways and asked, "How did you figure that out?"

"Your reaction is wrong," Hua Zitong said. "When someone risks their life to shield you from a knife, the normal reaction should be gratitude, tension, and worry. Your reaction is too cold."

"When everyone was surrounding him, your eyes were constantly analyzing."

Li Wu was silent for a few seconds, then said:

"If he had done it differently, he could have easily pushed me away or taken the blow for me with his own body."

Hua Zitong's breath hitched.

"But he chose to use the force of the fragments to collide." Li Wu's voice was very low.

"The result of this approach is precisely the creation of an unstable spatial vortex—a channel capable of transmitting large volumes of data."

Hua Zitong turned to look at him:

"You mean... his goal wasn't to save you, but to create that vortex?"

"I'm not sure, maybe it's both."

"It's true that I took the blow; if that attack had hit me, the consequences would have been severe."

"But creating the vortex... I just set up a listening network, and he's emitting fluctuations of law from his body. The frequency of a Starbreaker."

Hua Zitong gasped.

"There's one more thing." Li Wu turned to look into her eyes, "Didn't you notice? That voice said the selection was complete."

"Um?"

"If the Star Shatterer only wanted to steal our law data, it should have said that it had finished collecting or gathering it," Li Wu said, emphasizing each word.

"The word 'screening' implies that it selects someone from among us."

A chill ran down Hua Zitong's spine: "Choose? What are you going to do with choosing?"

Li Wu's gaze turned towards the direction of the Iron-Blooded Emperor:

"Be its inside man. Be its eyes on this platform."

Hua Zitong clenched her fist.

"What about tomorrow?"

"Let's not alert them yet," Li Wu said after thinking for a moment.

"I need more evidence, and..."

He looked at his hands.

With his mental strength recovered to less than 20%, if he were to truly turn against the Iron-Blooded Emperor now, he might not be able to suppress him immediately should the other party suddenly retaliate.

"Once I've recovered a bit," Li Wu said, closing her eyes. "Keep an eye on him for me. Don't let him find out."

"it is good."

Hua Zitong stood up and glanced back at him before leaving.

Li Wu leaned against a stone pillar with her eyes closed, her expression calm.

But Hua Zitong knew what he was thinking.

When the Iron-Blooded Emperor struck his own chest with the shards, was the fleeting pain in his eyes an act, or was it genuine?

This answer determines a person's life or death.

the next day.

The detached individuals on the platform gradually awoke, but the atmosphere remained somber.

So much happened yesterday: the poison of the law, the black vortex, the data breach—everyone is carrying a heavy burden.

Li Wu didn't sleep all night, and his mental strength recovered to about 40%.

Not much, but enough.

He stood by the stone pillar as usual, discussing today's training arrangements with Gu Yuan with a normal expression.

Hua Zitong assisted from the side, occasionally interjecting a few words.

No one noticed anything unusual.

In the morning, the Iron-Blooded Emperor woke up.

He propped himself up on his arms and looked at himself with a grimace.

Most of the black lines have faded, leaving only some faint traces.

"Damn it..." the Iron-Blooded Emperor cursed, "I almost got killed."

Zhui Feng was the first to walk over:

"You're finally awake? How are you feeling?"

"Half dead." The Iron-Blooded Emperor cracked his neck, but... he won't die.

Several other transcendent beings gathered around, and Po Jun handed him a bottle of recovery potion. Xing Gui asked a few questions about his physical condition.

Li Wu walked over.

The Iron-Blooded Emperor looked up at him and grinned:

"I took the knife for you, wasn't that a good deed?"

Li Wu looked at that smile.

The curve of that smile was exactly the same as when she was unconscious.

"Thank you for your hard work." Li Wu nodded, her tone flat.

"Come on," the Iron-Blooded Emperor waved his hand. "If you really feel bad about it, treat me to a drink next time."

Li Wu hummed in agreement, said nothing more, and turned to walk away.

Zhui Feng muttered to himself from the side:

"Li Wu can never say anything nice... someone else took the knife for him."

The Iron-Blooded Emperor leaned back onto the energy pad and closed his eyes to rest.

No one noticed that Hua Zitong's gaze lingered on him for two extra seconds.

At noon, Li Wu convened a meeting of all the Transcendent Ones.

"Everyone knows what happened yesterday," he said bluntly. "The Starbreaker obtained our law data. This means that everything we practiced before is transparent to it."

Everyone's expressions were solemn.

"So starting today, the training plan needs to be adjusted," Li Wu continued. "The first step: I've discovered a law frequency band that can block the remote perception of the Star Shatterers."

"Over the next three days, I will teach everyone how to conceal the fluctuations of the laws."

"After learning this, even if the Starbreakers obtain our previous data, they will not be able to track our status changes in real time."

This news cheered everyone up.

Gu Yuan nodded: "This is indeed the most urgent matter."

"The second step," Li Wu paused, "I have to confess something: creating the Light of Purification consumed too much of my mental energy."

"It will take at least seven days to fully recover. During this time, my law defense capabilities will only be 30% of their peak."

As he said this, his gaze inadvertently swept over the Iron-Blooded Emperor.

The latter lay there half-reclined, his expression unchanged, only slightly raising his eyebrows.

"Thirty percent?" Chasing Wind frowned. "What if the Star Shatterers launch another sneak attack now..."

"That's why you need to learn how to hide as soon as possible," Li Wu replied naturally.

After the meeting, everyone dispersed to continue their training.

Unbeknownst to anyone, from the start to the end of the meeting, Li Wu had already completed the deployment of a more sophisticated law-monitoring network across the entire platform.

This network is not just monitoring the Iron-Blooded Emperor alone.

It monitors everyone.

The fluctuations of the laws within each person, the unconscious release of the laws during every breath and every sleep, are all recorded.

If anyone is transmitting intelligence to the outside world, whether it's the Iron-Blooded Emperor or someone else, he will know.