Chapter 1290 - 1150: Appearance Doesn’t Matter

Chapter 1290: Chapter 1150: Appearance Doesn’t Matter

Granny Jia chatted with the Nutrient Injection, and the surrounding Divine Senses... of course, were numerous.

Mu Yu, in the distance, nodded, "Senior, when she was young, besides being a cultivation genius, she was also renowned for her beauty."

"What’s that got to do with me?" The Paranoid shook his head indifferently, "You should go tell the boss, that’s proper."

"Hmm?" Qu Jianlei, who was projecting his Divine Sense, frowned slightly.

Originally, he hadn’t thought of this matter, just felt that as long as his preferences weren’t skewed, it was good enough.

But hearing them speak so, he couldn’t help but grow curious—what did Little Jing originally look like?

The Nutrient Injection, however, shook her head indifferently, "Since we’ve chosen the path of cultivation, does appearance really matter?"

"Indeed," Granny Jia nodded, yet a strange glint flashed in her eyes.

At this moment, she truly was being a bit disingenuous—it’s easy not to care about appearance when you naturally possess it!

The two continued chatting for a bit longer before the conversation turned to the Dharma Artifact that the Nutrient Injection had once used.

Granny Jia had only heard a rough outline and didn’t know the whole process; she unabashedly asked.

"How do you operate that artifact of yours?"

The Nutrient Injection’s face showed a trace of difficulty; she was well aware of how many Divine Senses surrounded her.

But Jia Shuqing was truly from the same era and, besides the boss, the one who shared the most common ground with her in the team.

Although Mu Yu could barely be considered of the same generation, she had been frozen early on, with nearly two hundred years of her life being a blank.

After pondering, she decided to express her stance.

"How about this, I happen to need to consult the boss, why don’t you join us and see if the boss allows you to listen in."

Huh? Qu Jianlei frowned again, was this Soul Suppressing Bell not a Dharma Artifact for the Nascent Soul Stage, what could you possibly need to consult me about?

Nonetheless, Little Jing was his earliest comrade in this life, and indeed the most trustworthy.

At that time, the little guy had lost his memory, yet managed to survive in tough conditions while also saving the rift; fundamentally speaking, he was of good nature.

So he didn’t want to withhold, and upon seeing the two approaching, even helped the Nutrient Injection by speaking up.

"Senior Jia, since this involves her trump card, I can’t just decide... maybe you can ask her later?"

Upon hearing this, Granny Jia turned and left without another word.

To her, Qu Jianlei’s words carried more weight than all of the others combined.

Qu Jianlei then reactivated the Defense Array, leaving a crowd of snoopers staring at each other, "There it goes again..."

The Nutrient Injection had many questions about the sacrificial refinement of the Soul Suppressing Bell, as earlier circumstances didn’t allow her to seek guidance, leaving her to explore independently.

Thankfully, she still had a portion of the Nirvana Advancement Technique in her possession.

Although it was merely an advancement technique and not complete, it at least provided an overall outline.

No wonder everyone daring to aspire towards reaching the Supreme Above was extraordinary.

The Nutrient Injection not only used it to successfully advance but also explored the path for the sacrificial refinement of the Dharma Artifact.

Although Qu Jianlei wasn’t adept at sacrificial refinement either, he had acquired some related knowledge through refining the Sword Pill.

Even with his limited insight, he could analyze that the other’s path was not completely correct... some aspects clearly deviated off course.

However, the most crucial issue was... the Nutrient Injection’s own insufficiency in Spiritual Qi.

To paraphrase, "Spiritual Qi isn’t omnipotent, but without it, one is powerless."

Given that the other party had a cultivation heritage, there was nothing wrong with sharing insights on sacrificial refinement.

After all, both were at the exploratory stage, and mutual exchange could inspire each other’s creativity.

Of course, in this process, the Nutrient Injection benefited far more than Qu Jianlei.

Many of her uncertain assumptions were directly confirmed by the boss.

Qu Jianlei wasn’t entirely without gain; while his gains weren’t large, taking further steps from where he stood was inherently difficult.

Unconsciously, they ended up discussing matters for an entire day and night.

Outside the Defense Array, numerous Divine Senses lingered, for those who could achieve the Supreme, few gave up easily.

While the two communicated with adequate enjoyment, they also understood the importance of moderation.

Qu Jianlei took the initiative to halt, "You should digest this first, then carefully calculate; you can’t swallow a fat body in a single bite."

"Right," the Nutrient Injection nodded, "I will sort out that Nirvana Technique as soon as possible."

"By the way, I also have some Divine Text Materials, I’ll have them bring those over later."

Upon hearing "them," Qu Jianlei grew a bit curious, "How many Supreme do you have under you?"

"The trustworthy ones... four or five," the Nutrient Injection casually replied, "those willing to help me, many more."

"But I don’t easily use the latter... last time’s loss was too great."

Qu Jianlei had already understood that Little Jing was once reduced to a broken body; hearing this, he nodded, "That’s why my suspicion runs deep too."

Before, he often secretly mocked himself as a "persecutory delusion" patient, but at this moment, he could genuinely say it openly.

The Nutrient Injection nodded slightly, "I was too trusting before, otherwise why would I hold such resentment towards Imperial Capital Academy?"

Qu Jianlei listened with a curious expression, "Were you tricked by someone from that academy?"

"Pretty much," the Nutrient Injection replied sullenly, though it was clear she wasn’t interested in elaborating.

"Anyway, Babus is the one I took out, I accept the responsibility, and I don’t believe they dare to continue this entanglement."

In fact, at this moment, the Qingyuan Military Region had split into two factions internally.

One faction firmly believed that, no matter what, the 87th Army was their own, an inherent loyalty.

"No matter how the military errs, outsiders shouldn’t act arbitrarily... killing the military police was one thing, but that was one of the Seven Great Ace Teams!"

The opposing faction believed their side was already very passive, and they shouldn’t continue going down the wrong path.

"So what if it’s one of the Seven Great Ace Teams? The incident happened on our turf, and we are the ones being passive!"

The other side retorted, "They even refused the mobilization orders, who do they think they are? What if others follow suit... in turbulent times, severe measures must be used!"

"At least five Supreme combat forces have already been pushed to the other side; do you want more forces to withdraw from the mobilization?"

However, even with such heated arguments, both parties tacitly avoided mentioning one thing.

During that battle, a Supreme above the level went missing.

Because Qu Jianlei and his team did not leave any survivors, the military was uncertain about Babus’s fate.

Even news of a Supreme above taking part in the battle was known only by a handful and strictly forbidden to leak.

Yet, others were not foolish; they knew those who participated must include someone more esteemed than an ordinary Supreme.

In any case, no one was sure that Babus was definitely dead.

Most speculated that the important person or people most likely escaped—at least someone must have escaped.

As for whether a Supreme above might have been defeated? Don’t be ridiculous, even if they couldn’t win, they could still escape, couldn’t they?

During such disputes, they received inquiries from the military headquarters.

The members of the 87th Army went AWOL, heading to places not assigned to them; were there any relevant procedures?

The rule that the army must not leave their stations is ironclad—most mature human societies recognize this.

Of course, the military could engage in necessary exchanges if they had proper approval procedures.

Yet even with complete procedures, the members of the 87th Army starting conflicts outside their station was forbidden.

The inquiry from the military wasn’t from a dedicated officer, but nonetheless came from someone with significant status.

This person expressed that the nature of this event was extremely vile, creating a very negative impact.

The Empire was in urgent need of manpower; with such a significant incident occurring, the Qingyuan Military Region couldn’t escape responsibility!

The immediate priority now is to handle the aftermath of the event.

Investigate the causes thoroughly, punish involved personnel severely, soothe the local mobilized recruits’ emotions, and prevent similar incidents from happening again.

It sounded like political jargon, but hinted a deeper meaning—don’t push this combat force towards the traitors.

Only the military headquarters likely knew how severe the current situation was; many messages even the Qingyuan Military Region didn’t know.

However, one thing was clear to the region: the headquarters is paying great attention to local security, and there must be reasons for this.

But censure from non-supervising seniors left them somewhat confused.

The military is a tightly knit war machine, emphasizing each person fulfilling their duty... has a power struggle happened at the headquarters?

Thus, someone cautiously probed—those in the military aren’t all simple-minded, many are skilled at gauging superiors’ intentions.

Then a vague message surfaced: individuals of higher standing than Supremes are dissatisfied with the situation on Qingyuan Star.

Why not just say it’s a Supreme above, perhaps... still the patron behind Gustine’s Territory tenant?

If Babus wasn’t missing, he might have been qualified to step out for a match, sharing the pressure.

But now... there’s nothing more to say, the faction advocating appeasement is overwhelmingly dominant.

Qu Jianlei and others didn’t pay too much attention to this; the Nutrient Injection said she would handle it, there shouldn’t be any major issues.

On the other hand, Bentley was concerned about observing the spatial fluctuation points, frequently asking the boss whether to coordinate with the military.

No matter what happened during this station, they persisted for a month and should receive due compensation.

Qu Jianlei indicated: we can wait a bit longer, until Qinghu recovers from his injuries.

After all, the initial application term was three to six months, there’s no need to rush.

Actually, Qinghu’s injury was just one factor; another factor was... he acquired quite a few Divine Text Materials anew.

This came from Nutrient Injection’s contribution.

Since things were already said openly, she not only sorted out the Nirvana Technique but also collected other materials.

Among them were her exclusive materials, along with secret information obtained through other channels.

To Qu Jianlei, there were indeed a lot of useful materials.

The one he researched the most was the Nirvana Technique, not only because it was relatively complete but also because of the backlash Little Jing encountered.

Since he called him boss, he certainly couldn’t just watch his underlings suffer and lose lifespan repeatedly.