Douluo Continent: I possess astonishing wisdom as I control energy!

Hyotei sat there, her gaze seemingly unintentionally drifting towards Kong Ming'an, who was talking to Bingdie in the distance, but then quickly returning to his own after a moment.

The Snow Empress took in her subtle movement, her icy blue eyes remaining calm, before breaking the silence between them:

"Bing'er, aren't you going back with him?"

Hyotei stiffened slightly, but quickly recovered, shook her head, and said seriously:

"No, I'll stay here with you."

Snow Empress remained calm, extending her slender fingers to gently pinch Ice Empress's puffed-out cheeks.

It has a cool and delicate texture, a slightly soft and chewy feel, and is very easy to squeeze.

"Duplicity."

Her voice was soft, yet carried a strange certainty: "No regrets?"

Hyotei pursed her lips, turned her face away, no longer looking at Yuki-tei or Kong Ming'an in the distance, and simply said in a muffled voice:

"How could I possibly regret it because of him!"

Xue Di remained silent, simply watching her.

Feeling that gaze, Hyotei's eyes began to dart around, her initial confidence gradually fading, replaced by a growing sense of guilt.

After a long pause, she seemed to be encouraging herself as she emphasized again, "In short, I don't regret it."

Xue Di pondered for a moment, then decided to try a different approach: "Once my cultivation is stable, I will go to him. Do you want to come with me?"

Hyotei's face immediately turned serious, adopting a businesslike demeanor: "I'll go with you."

The Snow Empress shook her head, looked into the Ice Empress's golden eyes, and said calmly:

"It's just saying one thing and meaning another."

"..."

Hyotei remained silent, refusing to acknowledge Yuki-tei's statement even if it meant death.

Seeing Hyotei's expression, Yuki-tei's eyes flashed with helplessness. It seemed she would have to think of a solution.

Xue Di's eyes flickered slightly as she fell into thought.

After giving his answer, Hyotei's gaze involuntarily drifted towards Kongming An in the distance.

However, the moment her gaze fell upon that tall, slender figure, her mind was uncontrollably flooded with those blurry yet intensely passionate images that she could barely make out.

Unconsciously, her cheeks quickly warmed up and turned a faint blush.

She jerked her gaze away as if burned, her heart pounding uncontrollably.

But after a few seconds, his gaze was drawn back involuntarily, as if by a magnet, only to be hastily averted again by the surging memories.

After repeating this several times, Hyotei felt dizzy, his mind was in turmoil, and his legs inexplicably felt weak.

……

……

After dealing with matters in the far north, Kong Ming'an did not linger.

After all, his original plan was to come to the far north primarily to handle the Snow Emperor's ascension and refine his concept of ascending to godhood.

What was originally planned as a two- or three-day trip was extended to more than a week due to matters concerning Xue Di.

If he doesn't go back soon, he'll really burn out completely.

After a brief farewell to the Snow Empress and the still awkward Ice Empress, Kong Ming'an's figure disappeared into the spatial ripples.

The next moment, in the capital of the Sun and Moon Empire, within the Kong Family Chamber of Commerce, and inside Kong Ming'an's private laboratory, the space suddenly distorted slightly, and then his figure silently stepped out.

His gaze swept across the area, then stopped with a hint of surprise in a corner of the laboratory.

There, a delicate figure sat cross-legged, her soul power flowing around her as she entered a deep meditative state; it was Wang Dong'er.

At this moment, the girl's delicate face was filled with focus and seriousness, her breathing long and peaceful. Judging from the fluctuations of her soul power, her cultivation level had reached around level forty-three or forty-four.

After experiencing so much, Wang Dong'er has indeed changed a lot. She is no longer as lazy as she was in the original story, and she is exceptionally diligent in her cultivation.

The Sea God Martial Soul within her is an extremely important research sample; the stronger she becomes, the more nourished and enhanced her Sea God Martial Soul will be.

This can be considered a strategic move he made to secure Tang San's position as the God of the Sea. Nurturing her, whether as an assistant or a potential future pawn, was a worthwhile investment.

Thinking of this, a hint of interest flashed in his eyes. He was very much looking forward to the "filial piety and loving father" scene that would most likely unfold in the future.

He did not disturb Wang Dong'er's cultivation, and quietly went to the experimental table next to her.

Connecting to the "Spiritual Pivot," the light screen illuminated, and countless star systems rose, displaying several proposed plans for the next stage of strengthening the "Body Cultivation" system.

However, after only a brief glance, his brows furrowed involuntarily.

The reason why the advancement of the "body cultivation" system is fraught with difficulties is fundamentally due to the lack of sufficiently robust and representative research samples.

The rapid progress of "Dharma Cultivation," and even the smooth construction of the divine advancement stage, is largely due to having high-level samples to learn from.

However, "body cultivation" lacks a similar level of "template" for reference.

Kong Ming'an sighed softly and murmured to himself:

"Unfortunately, there is a lack of top-tier physical samples. The God of Destruction would never agree to release the sealed Golden Dragon King for me to 'slice' and study. That thing is difficult to control and the risk is too high."

He set aside this temporarily unsolvable problem and instead turned his attention to other projects such as "mass production of thousand-refined metal," "mechs," and the preliminary concept of "battle armor."

Although these projects are equally challenging, at least they have a clear direction. As for strengthening "physical cultivation," let's discuss that in the long term.

Soon, Kong Ming'an got into the zone and began processing the forging samples provided by Xiao Hongchen that had piled up over the past few days. Time passed slowly as he focused on his research.

At one point, Kong Ming'an, who was conducting the experiment, paused slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He sensed it briefly, and his expression turned strange.

"The will of the dimensional plane was so efficient this time?"

……

……

The Kong Family Chamber of Commerce headquarters, this colossal building standing in the heart of Mingdu, has its above-ground portion dedicated to a bright and orderly commercial area for receiving guests.

However, its core area is a complex, labyrinthine underground space that extends downwards for over a hundred layers.

This place is not only a vast warehouse for the Chamber of Commerce's supplies, but also houses numerous laboratories and researchers conducting research on soul guidance technology and various secret studies, making it a heavily guarded area.

At a certain moment, the soul-guided staircase door on the twelfth underground level slid open silently.

A female staff member in a standard chamber of commerce uniform was focused intently on the light screen projected by "Ling Shu," handling her tasks as she stepped out.

Behind her, a tall figure, like a ghost merging into the air, silently followed her in the instant the door opened.

Chapter 171 Trap, Infiltrating Investigator Qiu'er

The figure possessed flowing golden hair, blood-red eyes like glass, and a delicate face filled with curiosity as she looked around without any restraint.

It was Qiu'er who had secretly infiltrated the Kong Family Chamber of Commerce.

She followed closely behind the staff member in front of her, and taking advantage of the gap while the staff member was undergoing identity verification, she successfully passed through several gates that required authorization.

Meanwhile, the monitoring soul tools on the surrounding walls, which emitted faint soul power fluctuations, completely ignored this uninvited guest. Their scanning beams swept over her location without any abnormal reaction.

The girl's expression was calm. A silver dragon scale, serving as a pendant against her chest, was emitting barely perceptible ripples.

An invisible, special force field unfolded from the dragon scales, subtly distorting the surrounding light and elements, enveloping her within it, perfectly concealing her aura, making her undetectable to anyone.

Under this absolute concealment derived from divine power, the conventional surveillance facilities in the Chamber of Commerce's underground area appear somewhat comical and utterly useless.

Soon, following the staff member in front, Qiu'er arrived at a spacious lobby.

This is the twelfth basement level, a rest area for internal staff. It is spacious, fully equipped, and the soft lighting simulates natural light, relieving the fatigue brought on by high-intensity work.

Figures moved about, some talking in hushed tones, others hurrying by, all of which appeared efficient and orderly.

Qiu'er wandered aimlessly through the area like an invisible observer. After strolling around for a while, she slipped into an empty tea room.

Leaning against the long table laden with tea and snacks, Qiu'er unceremoniously picked up one of the unlimited, exquisite cakes and began to eat it in small bites.

At the same time, she flicked her finger, and an ordinary-looking notebook appeared in her hand.

Opening the notebook, one finds it densely filled with numerous records of information:

"The basement level is a basic supplies warehouse, with no trace of gas transport."

"On the sixth basement level, in a large conference room area, the soul power barrier is of a high level, and there are no traces of luck."

"Eight underground levels, an ecologically simulated botanical garden, teeming with life, yet devoid of any trace of destiny."

……

The girl looked at the records, pouted, and seemed very dissatisfied with the progress.

She popped the last bite of cake into her mouth, licked the cream off her fingertips, then took out a pen and wrote something in the new blank space.

"The twelfth underground floor is an employee rest area. It is densely populated and has a complex environment, with no trace of any aura."

After finishing writing, she closed the notebook, sighed softly, and sounded somewhat annoyed:

"Why haven't we found it yet?!"

Patience was never her forte, especially after spending several days without any results. If it weren't for her sister's orders, she would have definitely run away.

She initially chose to stake out her target outside the Kong family mansion, but she didn't get much success.

At the same time, the dragon scale bestowed upon her by her sister, the Lord, on her chest served as a warning, telling her that unpredictable dangers lurked within the Kong family, which is why she did not choose to infiltrate.

Given this situation, she set her sights on the Kong Family Chamber of Commerce.

With the protection of the dragon scales, she easily figured out the structure of the Chamber of Commerce, both above and below ground, and she could clearly sense the unique aura of destiny belonging to the chosen one.

This discovery greatly motivated her, especially after confirming that the Chamber of Commerce had many deeply hidden floors, which further confirmed that her target was located beneath the Kong Family Chamber of Commerce.

However, four or five days passed, and she was still wandering around this underground maze like a headless fly. She had checked nearly twenty floors, but she hadn't even caught a glimpse of her target. The progress was frustratingly slow.

Thinking of this, Qiu'er flew into a rage, grabbed another piece of cake, and took a vicious bite, as if she were chewing not a dessert, but the chosen one she had never met before.

Taking a few deep breaths, Qiu'er calmed herself down and silently thought to herself,

Once I find the other person, I will immediately activate the dragon scales to summon my master sister to descend.

With the divine power of my sister, capturing him will be a piece of cake. I will definitely interrogate him severely!

Well, she can also take back her own luck along the way. After all, a part of that guy's luck originally belonged to her. She must squeeze all the luck that belongs to her out of that guy, leaving not a single bit!

Just as Qiu'er was immersed in her dreams of the future, footsteps and voices came from outside the tea room.

Several figures in researcher uniforms walked in. They seemed to have just finished a discussion and were still continuing with some topic.

"My energy conduction structure optimization experiment is basically complete. Now the only problem is that the metal strength of the core pressure-bearing component does not reach the theoretical value, which is the bottleneck."

"Then you could try applying for the latest batch of 'Semi-Spirit Forging' alloy. It's said that its strength and soul power affinity are a qualitative leap compared to the previous thousand-forged metal, which should meet your requirements," someone nearby suggested.

The first person to speak blinked, "Really? Do I have the necessary permissions to apply?"

"That's enough. According to regulations, your project level allows you to apply for a certain share for verification experiments. However, you'll need to go to the special materials warehouse on the 124th basement level to collect it yourself. Once the formalities are completed, just go and get it."

Qiu'er, who had been listening from the sidelines, immediately perked up her ears, a glint of light flashing in her red eyes.

One hundred and twenty-four floors underground? That's a really deep level! The deepest floors we explored before were only around thirty-something below ground. This deep place might really hold crucial clues!

A sense of anticipation rose in Qiu'er's heart.

A moment later, the researcher seemed to receive a notification that his application had been approved, and his face lit up with joy: "Luckily, the application was approved! Then I won't slack off with you guys anymore, the experiment is more important."

After saying that, the man turned around and hurriedly left.

Qiu'er didn't dare to delay and quickly followed silently.

The two entered the soul-guided elevator one after the other. After the researcher verified their identities, the elevator began to descend smoothly and rapidly.

The numbers kept fluctuating until they finally stopped at "-124".

The stairwell doors opened, and the researcher stepped out. Qiu'er followed closely behind; however, just as she was about to step off the soul-guided stairwell,

Without warning, ripples spread across the space ahead, and the researcher stepped into them without hesitation, his figure vanishing instantly.

Qiu'er tried to catch up, but she was a beat too slow. Just as she stepped off the soul-guided staircase, the spatial ripples subsided, isolating her in the corridor of the 124th basement level.

"No, where did they go?" Qiu'er frowned and asked subconsciously.