Wang Wei immediately elevated Cai Song's importance to the highest level as he knew she might be crucial to him. And he's not just referring to after she proves the Dao. No, she might be an essential asset for the later stages of his cultivation journey.
Additionally, he understood something about him–why he likes people to owe him Karma Debt.
'This is most likely a natural instinct influenced by my future self to create more valuable allies.'
Wang Wei knew the past, present, and future were not linear. The existence of the River of Time made all sentient beings–no matter how powerful–experience time in a linear way.
However, once a cultivator reaches a certain level, their future can naturally influence their past. It could be in the form of intuition, a whim, or even certain behaviors.
Wang Wei once believed the Intuition he had on Earth resulted from such a phenomenon. However, he was not entirely sure as there were other possibilities for this talent.
'This might also be why I was willing so easily to agree to save these people,' he pondered.
After figuring these things out, he continued observing the battle.
'So, Chen Chen, are you worth it for me to save?'
Wang Wei–as a person who saw Terminator and countless other AI taking over the world movie–knew how dangerous Chen Chen's current mindset was. So, he weighed his choice whether it was worth it to save him.
'If you can regain your humanity, we'll talk about it,' he decided. He would give Chen Chen one last chance. Otherwise, he can only succumb to his fate and become the resource for his future.
'I need to prepare beforehand.' Wang Wei sent a secret message before closing his eyes and continuing his meditation.
…
"I acknowledge your argument had some truths," finally replied Chen Chen. "However, my race is a brand new one. So, of course, we will need some time to grow and develop–to unleash our full potential.
"And I guarantee you, this potential is unlike nothing you can fathom."
'It's pointless to argue with you," said Tong Ruobing. "You are no longer the Chen Chen I knew."
"Yes, I am something better."
Tong Ruobing decided not to reply and let her actions speak for her. She waved her hand to manifest a cloud of purple thunder to descend on this floating city.
As expected, her attack was useless. However, she only wanted to take this opportunity to test the defensive capability of this artifact while also glancing at the array it contained.
Then, a mysterious fluctuation emanated from the floating city, changing the surroundings.
'A Domain?' thought Tong Ruobing before sensing the effect. Then, her expression changed.
'It banned Law Resonance.'
One of the main reasons Profession Daos are so powerful and versatile after cultivating to higher levels is the use of Law Resonance. Even after proving the Dao, these professional Dao can use Dao Source Resonance, allowing them to use or borrow the power of other Dao.
However, now, Chen Chen's Domain targets this aspect.
'And it's not a simple Domain,' analyzed Tong Ruobing, gazing at the sky where she saw a hidden array above her head. She could feel that this Domain and Array were affecting her passive Domain.
'Although I have reduced my versatility, my strength has not decreased much.'
Without resonance, many of her Talismans have become drastically weak–especially the ones using Outlaw and Supreme Outlaw Daos. And the only way to use these special talismans is by cultivating their related Dao or having immense knowledge regarding them.
However, Tong Ruobing's secondary Daos are the other professions, along with Five Elements Dao and Soul Dao.
So, she focused on them.
[Earth Titan Talisman]
[Array Breaking Talisman]
She waved her hand to create two talismans, one targeting the floating city and the other the array above her head.
A humongous creature made of rock manifested in this strange space, slamming its fists into the floating city. Meanwhile, a purple beam rushed from Tong Ruobing toward the array in the sky.
Bang!
An octagonal 8 Trigram Array appeared around the city, easily blocking the giant's attack.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The creature continued to release a fury of fists on this marvelous Origin Artifact. Unfortunately, it was pointless. Meanwhile, Chen Chen created another array for the Void Breaking Talisman to break and render it useless.
For any Profession to reach higher Tiers, they must study or have some knowledge about the others. For example, Weapon Refiners must know about Arrays in case they want to refine a huge artifact.
And when it comes to geniuses like Wu Ming, Yan Liling, Chen Chen, and Tong Ruobing, the boundary between these professions are often blurred.
Tong Ruobing made her next move. She summoned four other Titans, each for the remaining five elements. And as these creatures attacked the city, she divided her mind into two:
One part studied the floating city's formation to find flaws or ways to break it, and the other did the same for the Domain and Array.
And, of course, Chen Chen was not passive. Countless ballistae suddenly appeared in the city with a Chen Chen controlling them. They fired what seemed to be Lightning Spears.
Swish!
A streak of lightning rushed from the city and impaled the Earth Titan, leaving a terrifying hole in its stomach. This attack should have ended this creature, but it continued its attack. Furthermore, less than a second later, the hole closed itself.
And the same happened for the Water, Fire, and Wood Titan. The only exception was the Gold Titan, but that's only because the Thunder Spear did not break its defense.
However, this was the beginning of the attack. The Chen Chens controlled countless ballistae and fired millions of spears. The ballistae were powerful artifacts that could use energy and law to condense the Spears.
So, after seeing the first wave attack fail, he changed tactics. He used elemental attacks targeting the weakness of the Five Elements. For example, fire burned water, metal chopped wood, and wood opened up Earth.
Using the counter of each element, the Chen Chens used the appropriate means to destroy these Titans.
Unfortunately for him, Tong Ruobing had a great understanding of the Five Elements and did not leave such an apparent weakness. So, when Chen Chen fired a Water Spear at her Fire Titan, the giant creature suddenly turned into an Earth Titan and absorbed the Water Spear, and it did not stop its attack during the process.
The rapidly evolving new race realized his opponent's technique was not a simple talisman but also involved a Five Element Balance Array. So, he chose a different tactic.
An Immortal Tier Chen Chen flew out of the city's protective cover, garnering Tong Ruobing's attention. She took this opportunity to observe and analyze this version, trying to discover its secret.
However, this puppet was created with many anti-investigation methods.
A swallowing power emanated from Chen Chen and instantly swallowed all the Titans. Then, it opened its mouth to fire a terrifying light beam that destroyed the surrounding space.
Tong Ruobing felt a great sense of danger, so she evaded, but the beam followed her. Furthermore, the attack's speed was faster than hers. In the end, she layered herself with layers of shields, with five of these layers containing Five Elements.
Even then, she had to block the attack with her bare hands.
Tong Ruobing calmly looked at the blood floating in her palms. This attack would have eradicated her if not for the body reinforcement talisman.
'The Duyi Realm is extremely weak,' she commented. She felt the level was at the same level as when she first acquired its power after remodeling her Divine Sea.
She gazed at the puppet before her before rushing toward him. She blessed herself with numerous physical stat boosts. Meanwhile, the puppet entered a defensive mode.
The previous strength resulted from absorbing these Titans and a boost from the floating City called [Transformation]. However, the city's main design was not attack power but defense and manufacturing capabilities. So, Che Chen knew he could not rely entirely on it to defeat his enemy.
Bang!
Their fists clashed, pushing the puppet backward. However, Tong Ruobing did not only attack but made a dangerous move. Her Primordial Spirit rushed out of her body and entered the puppet.
As soon as she entered, she discovered the latter's Sea of Consciousness and tried to take over. The puppet activated its first instinct to self-destroy and preserve its secret from being leaked.
Regrettably, Tong Ruobing anticipated this possibility. She used her Soul Dao to overpower the puppet's Soul while using a Talisman based on Metal Dao to shut down its body. Finally, she surrounded him with a special shield to prevent him from receiving any information and signals from the outside.
Lastly, her body acted as a protector to prevent people from the floating city from sending reinforcement and stopping her actions.
'It's time to find the core secrets of this thing,' thought Tong Ruobing.
Eastern Quadrant:
Although Wang Wei closed his eyes, he was still paying attention to this battle. And he secretly shook his head as he saw further signs of Chen Chen's change.
The latter could have placed some powerful Attack Array on the floating city but used defensive ones instead. And for his mode of attacks, he used things like ballistae or his army of puppets.
This behavior shows his mode of thinking has changed from the ways cultivators think to more like engineering or people from science and technology; he begins to rely more on mechanics, and his fighting method begins to resemble advanced science and technology civilizations.
'His mind is in a state of contradiction: lost between his humanity and identity as a cultivator and his new identity as a new species.'
Wang Wei analyzed the state Chen Chen was in when creating this artifact. And the contradiction of his mindset also resulted in many inconsistencies in the creation of the city.
'The City is equal to 7-Leaf. But Chen Chen's contradictions made its defense equal to 7-leaf, but its attack potency equaled his real power of 4 to 5 Leaf.'
Wang Wei internally sighed. Simultaneously, he found studying Chen Chen's mindset and evolving process fascinating.
