My Nascent Soul Ran Away Again - Chapter 220: Invincible Below the Golden Core – The Skin of Cold Jade, The Bones of Glazed Glass

As the two invaders entered the village, they were not only covered in high-strength specialty ceramics but had also replaced their internal skeletons.

Cold Jade Skin, Glazed Bone, unrivaled under the Golden Core stage!

Even the leader of the Black Dragon Stronghold suspected that to animate these bodies, the Foundation Building cultivators must have embedded some high -energy batteries within their prosthetic bodies.

This was the legendary… Pseudo Core Realm!

Those capable of wielding such prosthetics must be geniuses of the Inner Core path.

The force that could cultivate such talents…

The leader of the Black Dragon Stronghold dared not think further.

Despite being treated rudely by the local gangs, the magnanimous Foundation Building cultivators did not quibble.

A man and a woman, they killed half of the village’s people… As effortlessly as stepping on insects.

The survivors were grouped by the cultivators, each group consisting of ten people.

After being maimed, these groups were taken away, never to return.

The leader of the Black Dragon Stronghold, trembling in fear, realized that the Foundation Building cultivators had spared them – the upper echelons of the outlaws – perhaps because, though low in cultivation, they had at least stepped into the path of cultivation.

Being Qi Refiners, they were certainly different from ordinary people.

That was, until this morning…

The male cultivator among them approached him.

He was ordered to gather information about Yellowstone Town.

The Black Dragon Stronghold, an outlaw power, was not on good terms with Huangyan Town.

With no other choice, the leader of the Black Dragon Stronghold entrusted the task to the siblings Gu Ying and Gu Tie. And offered a high price –

Turning Gu Tie into a Qi Refining cultivator.

As for the purpose of the two Foundation Building cultivators’ visit to this place.

The leader of the Black Dragon Stronghold had a vague guess.

These two… were probably here to hunt for Desolate Beasts.

Desolate Beasts referred to animals born in the wilderness.

Rabbits and mice burrowing in the sands were Desolate Beasts, as are the ferocious wolves of the wilderness.

But for the residents of the Sangna Plains…

Desolate Beasts were not a utilizable resource.

These animals, grown in the era of cyber-cultivation, often carry mutated flesh and blood. Consuming them leads to illness, grotesque mutations, and a painful death.

The only use was their fur and bones for clothing.

But the mighty large Desolate Beasts are difficult to hunt, and the nimble small ones were too alert. The cost of ammunition made hunting them uneconomical.

As high-tech alchemical products, the Foundation Building cultivators naturally cared little for the materials obtained from these Desolate Beasts.

The leader of the Black Dragon Stronghold knew, that the true goal of the Foundation Building cultivators were the [Desolate Gods].

The Desolate Gods were a kind of Desolate Beast… or rather, the most powerful being born among them.

A Desolate God possesses power comparable to a Golden Core cultivator.

Legends of the Desolate Gods have always circulated on the Sangna Plains.

Passed down by word of mouth.

At the northern end of the plains, in the mountains covered with white trees, resides a Desolate God.

The Black Dragon Stronghold was extremely close to that legendary mountain, less than three hundred miles away.

His maimed subordinates were probably thrown into the mountains to feed the Desolate God.

To lure out the Desolate God, these subordinates were likely insufficient.

The plan of the two Foundation Establishment cultivators must be to use Yellowstone Town as bait to draw out that Desolate God.

These things, the leader of the Black Dragon Stronghold only dared to mutter in his heart.

Even among his confidants, he did not dare reveal his speculations.

Two Foundation Building cultivators.

Three leaders of the Black Dragon Stronghold.

Five people in total, waiting at the mountain gate.

Time passed.

“Where is that kid Gu Tie?”

The leader of the Black Dragon Stronghold muttered internally.

He turned his head, glancing at the Foundation Building cultivators beside him.

The male and female cultivators appeared relaxed, the neural fibers on their heads dimming and brightening alternately, as if breathing.

The leader of the Black Dragon Stronghold could sense their calm and lengthy aura, their heartbeats slowing down, a sign of entering the [Embryonic Breathing] state.

But he, the leader of the Black Dragon Stronghold, lacked such means and had to stand there stiffly until dawn.

“Gu Tie, that boy, is being too presumptuous!”

The Black Dragon Stronghold’s leader was indignant.

“How dare he make us wait here for so long, standing us up! Maybe he’s seduced the mayor’s daughter in Yellowstone Town and is still in her bed right now!”

“Perhaps something unexpected happened.”

The male Foundation Building cultivator opened his eyes, electronic micro-lights flickering within.

“Let’s go and see.”

Suggested the female Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“That’s a good idea. It’s time to take a personal look.”

The male cultivator nodded in agreement.

Hearing this, the Black Dragon Stronghold’s leader sighed in relief.

“However, it’s still best not to let too many people know about this.”

The male cultivator spoke.

The next moment, the Black Dragon Stronghold’s leader suddenly drew his sword and beheaded himself.

He was controlled by the other, too powerless to resist given the vast disparity in strength.

“Are there others?”

Asked the female Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“Lin Yan, you go.”

The male cultivator called her by name.

“Alright.”

Lin Yan nodded, not wasting words, and headed deeper into the stronghold.

Half an hour later, Lin Yan emerged from the stronghold.

“Did you kill them all?”

The male cultivator asked for confirmation.

“I killed them all.”

Lin Yan waved her hand casually, without a trace of blood on her.

Impatience was evident on her face, “Is there a need to ask such things? How could I possibly make such a mistake?” “It’s a necessary confirmation.”

The male cultivator calmly replied.

“Lin Hong, you’ve become less and less human over the past two years.” Lin Yan frowned, “I can’t even detect any emotion in your voice anymore.” “That’s because I adjusted the voice pattern of my voice synthesizer.” The emotionless voice of the male cultivator, Lin Hong responded, “It’s unnecessary.”

“Is it because of the Dan scripture you’re practicing?”

Lin Yan narrowed her eyes.

Compared to Lin Hong, her expressions and voice were much more varied. This was the effect of advanced artificial bodies, the more advanced the body, the more attention to detail.

One reason was the high cost—having spent so much, it was expected to justify the “marginal effect.”

As for the second reason…

“The Celestial Turing Sovereign once said, the greatest taboo in cyber cultivation is to consider oneself as a machine.’

Lin Yan stared into his eyes, “The higher the cultivation realm, the more one cares about their humanity. Once humanity is lost, there’s a high chance of turning into a demon, becoming something like an Al spirit.”

“At that stage, cultivation becomes regression.” Lin Hong was unusually silent for a long time: “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

“You better check that Dan scripture you received.”

Lin Yan advised.

The power backing them was immense, the family could provide ample cultivation resources, allowing them to advance to the [Pseudo Core realm], and in these advanced artificial bodies, there were also restrictions laid by the great cultivators of their clan, which were… firewalls.

But as the saying goes, “for every clever move, there is a countermove.” Many dangers were unpredictable.

Moreover, the powerhouse in their family was in seclusion, attempting to reach the Body Integration Stage, so the firewall hadn’t been updated in a long time.

“Why are you making such a fuss?!”

Lin Hong finally got annoyed, “You’re worrying about nothing, do you understand?!”

His previously calm demeanor disappeared as he glared at her irritably.

Seeing Lin Hong break his composure and regain some “humanity, ” Lin Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But she quickly raised her voice, “Why am I making a fuss, I am your sister!”

“We’re not blood-related, I’m the adopted son of the family… The ‘Lin’ in my name was added later, my original surname is ‘Hong’… And you’re my distant cousin.”

Lin Hong corrected her.

Lin Yan took a deep breath, an expression of emotion in her artificial body, “Don’t forget that I’m also your fiancée!”

“As cultivators, we should prioritize the path of cultivation, attachments like male-female relations are merely hindrances…”

Lin Hong shook his head, “Moreover, we’ve been engaged for over twenty years now, and it looks like it’ll be much longer.”

“You’ve forgotten how I cared for you when you were young? The chip my father gave me for my birthday, I didn’t even want to use it myself and gave it straight to you…”

“Yeah, and someone tried to harm you back then, planting a virus in the chip, I almost became an idiot.”

“That… I didn’t know about that! It’s just…”

“Alright, alright, let’s go already….”