Chapter 561 - 331: All Acupoints Open to God! The Conspiracy Reveals its Fangs

Han Feng patted the soldier’s shoulder and turned back to the Quiet Chamber.

The stone door shut heavily, blocking out the clamor of the outside world.

The first thing Han Feng did was immerse his consciousness and open the system panel.

He went straight to the [Borrowed Path Sword Seed] page, which he hadn’t paid attention to in a long time.

The list, which had originally contained only a handful of names, was now densely packed!

Rows upon rows of names and data cascaded downward like a waterfall.

[Investment Target: Zhang Wei (from Celestial Wind Fortress City)]

[Implanted Sword Seed: Borrowed Path Sword Seed (Divine Soul Type)]

[Overall Compatibility: 31%]

[Current Cultivation Progress: 1.2%]

...

[Investment Target: Lina (from the Divine Shield Federation)]

[Implanted Sword Seed: Borrowed Path Sword Seed (Divine Soul Type)]

[Overall Compatibility: 45%]

[Current Cultivation Progress: 3.8%]

...

Han Feng quickly scanned the list. There were over three hundred and seventy names!

Without exception, these were all the unlucky souls who had used the "Divine Soul Crystals" he had swapped out at Broken Star Reef.

They came from various Fortress Cities in the Gaia Alliance, and there were even Martial Artists from other human alliances.

What caught Han Feng’s attention the most, however, were a few names that the system had specially marked.

[Investment Target: ’Thunder God’ Thor (from the Divine Shield Federation)]

[Identity: Foreigner God (Ancestral Spirit Level)]

[Implanted Sword Seed: Borrowed Path Sword Seed (Divine Soul Type)]

[Overall Compatibility: 78% (Divine Creature Bonus)]

[Current Cultivation Progress: 11.2%]

[Investment Target: ’Flame Demon’ Su Dan (from Jiangbei Fortress City)]

[Identity: Foreigner God (Ancestral Spirit Level)]

[Implanted Sword Seed: Borrowed Path Sword Seed (Divine Soul Type)]

[Overall Compatibility: 65% (Divine Creature Bonus)]

[Current Cultivation Progress: 8.5%]

...

A total of five!

Among the more than three thousand Sword Seeds he had planted, five people had already embarked on the Faith Divine Dao, becoming beings just like the "Military God," Ye Jinghong!

And the one from the Divine Shield Federation, ’Thunder God’ Thor, had a cultivation progress that had already surpassed 10%!

’Damn, this stuff has really become a hot commodity.’

Han Feng looked at the densely packed list, as if he were gazing upon a field of lush, thriving chives ready for harvest.

But this joy of an impending harvest lasted less than ten seconds before it was replaced by a chill that rose from the bottom of his heart.

He suddenly recalled the top-secret intelligence he had seen on that encrypted terminal from Star Sea Technology.

"Warning: The energy fluctuations in the Dragon Abyss Region are highly unusual. Suspected traces of high-dimensional power intervention."

"The opening of Dragon Abyss will be an accelerator. It will cause this world to slide into the abyss at a rate at least thirty years faster."

When he first saw those two sentences, he had only felt that the situation was serious.

But now, connecting all the clues, he realized the truth hidden behind that statement was far more terrifying than its literal meaning.

It was all too coincidental.

On the eve of Dragon Abyss’s opening, the underground palace at Broken Star Reef suddenly appeared, and the "Children of the Mist" began mass-producing this thing called "Divine Soul Crystal."

At first, it was just a Spiritual Power supplement with decent effects.

Han Feng had thought the higher-ups of the major alliances would remain vigilant, at most using it as a research sample, and would never promote it on a large scale.

When he had gone to swap them out, he had done so with a "might as well give it a shot" mentality, a casual move on the chessboard.

But he never expected that with the official opening of Dragon Abyss, this small crystal would become an "essential need" for all Explorers, a hard currency within Dragon Abyss itself!

Behind this, an invisible hand was pushing everything forward.

Then he thought of the "one-year limit" that Ye Jinghong had mentioned.

Why was it that only Foreigners who became Gods had the restriction of having to advance to Tier Five within a year or be obliterated by the world’s rules?

He had originally thought this was just some kind of exclusionary rule that emerged after the Dragon Abyss world fragment collided with the main world of Blue Star.

But now, he had another, more terrifying guess.

The Weaver was behind the Children of the Mist.

With the Weaver’s terrifying status surpassing even Tier Six, was it possible that it had made contact with and corrupted Dragon Abyss beforehand, during its fusion with Blue Star?

Or even... modified some of its rules?

For example, by adding this "one-year death sentence."

Why would the Weaver do this?

Han Feng’s thoughts raced as scenes from the Suspended Mountain Secret Realm flashed through his mind.

The Blood Sea, the altar, the crimson eyeball that tried to descend... That time, he had ruined their scheme.

So what about this time?

They had gone to great lengths to use Dragon Abyss as a chessboard, luring tens of thousands of human elites inside, then using the irresistible bait of "Divine Soul Crystals" to contaminate everyone with the Weaver’s power.

How similar this was to the plan at Suspended Mountain! Except this time, the scale was magnified a thousand, no, ten thousand times!

When countless Explorers became vessels for the Weaver’s power, what would they become?

Coordinates for the Weaver’s descent? Or sacrifices in a grand ritual?

Han Feng felt it wasn’t that simple.

If it was just to summon a clone, there would be no need for such an elaborate setup.

That "one-year limit"... why one year?

What would happen after one year?

Han Feng put himself in the Weaver’s shoes and began to ponder the question.

He suddenly thought of a basic principle regarding the fusion of Secret Realm spaces.

The fusion of a nascent world fragment with a main world is not an instantaneous process.

In the Early Stage, the spatial barrier between the two is extremely unstable, like a fragile layer of thin ice connecting two massive ice floes.

Only beings with low mass and low energy can pass through carefully.

This was why only Tier Three Martial Artists and below could currently enter Dragon Abyss.

If a Tier Four Grandmaster were to force their way in, they would shatter this thin ice and be swept into an unknown spatial turbulence.

But as time passes, this thin ice will continuously thicken and become more and more stable.

According to conventional calculations, in about half a year, this "ice bridge" would be able to withstand the passage of Tier Four Grandmasters.

And after a year, when the fusion between Dragon Abyss and Blue Star reaches a very high level, the spatial passage will completely stabilize, allowing Tier Five Celestial Being Realm Grandmasters to enter safely!

One year!

The answer was obvious!

The Weaver’s plan had to be completed within one year!

Because after one year, when the true powerhouses at the pinnacle of the human pyramid—the Tier Five Celestial Being Realm experts—descended, the entirety of Dragon Abyss would be carved up and devoured by them.

At that point, no matter what scheme the Weaver had, it would be crushed in the face of absolute power.

They feared humanity’s true top-tier combat power!

Therefore, they had to race against time! They had to reel in the net before the "heavy hitters" entered the field!

Having figured all this out, Han Feng felt a chill run down his spine.

This chess game was being played on too grand a scale.

From the appearance of Dragon Abyss to the promotion of "Divine Soul Crystals" and the "one-year death sentence" rule, every link was interconnected.

All the Explorers who entered Dragon Abyss thought they were gold prospectors searching for treasure.

But they didn’t know that from the first moment they set foot on this land, they had become livestock being raised in a pen, with a one-year slaughter countdown clock hanging over their heads.

An immense sense of crisis enveloped Han Feng.

But he felt no fear. Instead, there was a thrill, like a chess master who had finally met his match.

’You want to harvest them? You’ll have to ask me, the "middleman," for permission first.’

Han Feng looked at the more than three hundred names on the system panel, his eyes growing sharp.

He couldn’t stop this massive, overt conspiracy, nor could he reveal the truth to anyone. He had no proof, and no one would believe him even if he told them.

But he had his own methods.

’Since you want to raise pigs, I’ll just go into your pigpen and slap my own tag on every single one of them!’

He had to speed up.

On one hand, he had to frantically increase his own strength.

Only by standing on higher ground would he have enough power to play against the house when it was time to cash in.

On the other hand, he had to spread his [Borrowed Path Sword Seeds] throughout the entire Dragon Abyss!

He would use his own modified "Divine Soul Crystals" to replace all the products produced by the Children of the Mist.

He would make everyone who consumed the crystals unknowingly become his, Han Feng’s, "workers"!

’Whatever you’re plotting, on the day you’re ready to reel in your net...’

Han Feng let out a cold smile.

’I will show you the meaning of cutting the ground out from under you.’

When that time comes, with a single thought, he could detonate all the Sword Seeds.

All the people implanted with Sword Seeds—the power and insights they had worked so hard to cultivate—would be drained in an instant.

It would all condense into the purest [Sword Fruits], becoming the resources for his, Han Feng’s, meteoric rise to the heavens!

And the Weaver’s earth-shattering scheme, having lost all its "sacrifices," would become a colossal joke.

At this thought, the last trace of gloom in Han Feng’s heart dissipated.

The sense of urgency transformed into unprecedented motivation.

’Looks like it’s time to hurry up and go "restock" at the mines in Kunlun Holy City.’

He muttered to himself, his eyes filled with drive.