CHAPTER 471: CHAPTER 471: HUMAN NATURE

It goes without saying, for Mo Ran, who comes from a family that has been involved in the mining industry for generations, developing Dark Angel-themed tourism is merely a stopgap measure to boost the economy on a planet like Shuji. To truly revive its pillar industry, one really needs to dig for stones...

Especially after seeing the stones sent over by Yu Sheng, she’s even more convinced.

The "Inference Star Body" has devoured a large amount of mineral resources from this planet. Under the influence of the Cognitive Barrier, people have not noticed the existence of the Dark Angel, but the mineral veins that were devoured are truly gone—ninety percent of Shuji’s decline over the years is due to this, and afterwards, the Inference Star Body left Shuji only with endless pale crystals, filling pits and valleys, from mountains to oceans, even covering the seabed, and deep into the mantle.

What use can these crystals be put to?

This is a question every Guardian Person starts to ponder unconsciously after the disaster ends and they’ve calmed down—if they still wish to live and rebuild this devastated homeland, their eyes inevitably fall on those crystals.

"These crystals from the Deep Layer are relatively close to the original ’nerve center’ of the Inference Star Body. In nature, they are somewhat similar to the ’Angel Catalysts’ sought by the Venerate Saints Monastery, but Angel Catalysts are the core structures remaining from the Dark Angel’s fall, and though powerful, they are rare, whereas these crystal blocks...are everywhere in the mantle."

Yu Sheng patiently explained to Mo Ran, who held a crystal block in her hands, about these "minerals"—most of this information he had "read" bit by bit through the connection established by his own blood, and the rest was from the numerous tests he conducted underground over the past couple of days.

"Compared to ’Angel Catalysts,’ their effects are much weaker, but they are way more stable, and they retain a portion of the Dark Angel’s ’puncture’ properties. They can assist in opening the passage from the Exotic Realm back to reality and can also resist, to some extent, the influence of entities on the human mind—in fact, I even suspect this material has certain protective and weakening effects against other Dark Angels, but since there are no other Angels to test it with at the moment, this remains just a conjecture...

"These crystal blocks also have a certain ’resonance’ property, similar in nature to secondary Ankaela Crystals. I suspect this ’resonance’ is a shared trait of Dark Angel remnants after their decline, but my experimental conditions are limited, and I’m not specialized in research, so the specific situation still depends on your studies. You can contact the Boundary Special Service Bureau; they have already started their research in this area.

"Furthermore, these crystal blocks have many quirky properties, but the impurities present make testing difficult; this might require you to come up with a method, as I figure this should be the old business of the Guardian People—refining minerals and such..."

Mo Ran listened in a daze to Yu Sheng’s one-by-one explanation, her hands trembling slightly without even realizing it as she held the crystal block.

She even felt as if this thing were growing hot, holding it...like cradling a burning flame of hope.

"Yes, yes, this is our ’old business’...Guardian People are very good at this, always have been good at it," she instinctively opened her mouth, "There are several Refining Towers still usable around Mo City...but they might need some modifications, as this isn’t traditional spiritual ore. I, I’ll first take it to the Artifact Refining workshop to see. By the way, Mr. Yu, are there more? Where should we dig..."

"There are plenty, I just said, they’re all over the place near the mantle," Yu Sheng laughed, "But this planet’s mining industry has been defunct for years, and many mining platforms and auxiliary facilities are already abandoned. Restarting the deep mining project immediately might be somewhat difficult, so you should wait a couple of days. I’ll try to ’move’ a relatively shallow vein upward a bit, theoretically, that vein can be connected to the rift north of Mo City, and then you can dig directly from there. However, there might be some tremors during this process, so don’t be nervous then, it won’t shake the city."

"Mo Ran understands," Mo Ran immediately said, then seemed to belatedly realize it and hastily bowed deeply to Yu Sheng, "The millions of citizens of Mo City, and even the entire Shuji, will always be grateful for Mr. Yu’s great benevolence and virtues...Your willingness to be our Star Guardian, this really is, really is..."

Probably too excited, she stammered for half a day not knowing what to say, her face reddening until she finally managed to squeeze out a few words: "It really is good...so good."

The young City Lord Fairy’s eyes betrayed a relaxation she couldn’t conceal, her whole being exuding an aura of "this broken job can go on."

Yu Sheng just smiled. This time, he did not stop Mo Ran from performing the courtesy and instead accepted her gratitude graciously.

However, after a while, Mo Ran began chattering again about things like "setting up a mansion" and "three incense sticks every morning and evening," at which point he couldn’t keep a straight face anymore and quickly made a sincere plea for her to stop, saying that her intentions were enough...

...

"This is the current situation: we’ve collected some remnants of the Inference Star Body after its demise from the Taixu Orbit; they’re probably the so-called ’Angel Catalysts’...All the remnants are tightly controlled now, and the entire Feiyu Star Domain is under defense, strictly preventing infiltration by those Hidden Monastery miscreants."

In an area of Queyun Palace, True Man Yuanling spoke solemnly to an ancient bronze mirror floating in the air, and within that mirror was the image of Baili Qing.

"Hmm...though I’ve said it before, I must reiterate: never, under any circumstance, enter Super Space while carrying Angel Catalysts, whether it’s for transitioning or using the Curvature Drive—it’s also best not to use any technology related to Subspace near Angel Catalysts," nodded Baili Qing earnestly, emphasizing again. "Based on the information we have, doing so can have fatal consequences. Previously, a Hidden Monastery shuttle vanished when it entered Super Space carrying Angel Catalysts, and its whereabouts remain unknown."

"We certainly understand this," True Man Yuanling nodded, hesitated a moment, then continued, "Additionally, Yu Sheng has become a ’Star Guardian’ in the Feiyu Star Domain, regarding this matter..."

"How is his condition now?" Baili Qing inquired.

"His condition is quite good," True Man Yuanling mused, stroking his beard, "He went down the mountain early in the morning with a few companions and even took a group of kiddies—meanwhile reports from Shuji also indicate he appeared over there."

Across the Lingxi Mirror, Baili Qing listened and nodded gently.

"...When I first learned that he ’devoured’ the Inference Star Body and took over a planet, I was really shocked," she spoke quite candidly with an old friend she’d known for a hundred years, "At that time, I even made some rather bad plans, but now it seems... things are moving in a good direction, your decision was correct."

"Compared to a living planet, the identity of ’Star Guardian’ is closer to human, at least it’s a more personable description," True Man Yuanling continued stroking his beard, though his tone carried some lament, "At the time, we really didn’t expect him to suddenly come and say he’s become ’Shuji,’ my senior brother and I scarcely had time to think it through, we could only hurriedly invite him to serve as the Star Guardian of Shuji, initially worried he would decline, but unexpectedly it went very smoothly."

"He... is actually quite easy to deal with, just be sincere," Baili Qing’s expression remained unchanged, but there seemed to be a hint of smile in her eyes, "Understanding this, stabilizing him on the ’human’ side is actually not that difficult."

True Man Yuanling nodded slightly, exchanged a few more words, and then concluded the communication with Boundary City.

He gently exhaled, looking around.

On the right sat Senior Brother’s External Incarnation—Senior Brother didn’t even bother to allocate much of his Spiritual Wisdom onto this Incarnation, so it just sat rigidly in the room, maintaining a seemingly dignified yet essentially clay-like dumbfounded look, watching it made one fret.

On the left sat Junior Brother Yuan He, also someone who didn’t care to attend affairs, he had exerted great effort to drag him out of Beast Taming Peak, yet now he still looked distracted.

Thus, after glancing from left to right, True Man Yuanling felt more exhausted, letting out another deep sigh.

The zoned-out True Man Yuan He finally came to his senses, turned his head to glance over here: "Finished talking?"

"Finished," True Man Yuanling replied somewhat resentfully, then his eyes landed on his obviously preoccupied Junior Brother, "...Seeing you so out of sorts early in the morning, what’s wrong?"

"Out of sorts?" Yuan He slightly startled, "I didn’t notice..."

Yuanling snorted: "That girl left?"

Yuan He’s face visibly twitched, then sighed lightly, placing the horsetail whisk on his lap: "Sigh, she left, went down the mountain early this morning. I was even saying to prepare some snacks for her to eat on the journey, she hurried off without taking them."

"She has concerns," Yuanling shook his head, "Moreover, she’s a Great Demon and now has the foundation of a Demon Immortal, why worry so much—she’s not foolish."

"Who said not foolish, muddling through the day, how long has that brain of hers just recovered?" Yuan He stared eyes wide, but after saying a couple of sentences couldn’t help but sigh again, "Not proficient at her learning, impetuous, taught her transformation magic, barely grasped it before claiming mastery, even yesterday just learned to half-transform into a human-snake while hiding other heads, now eager to go down the mountain today... I worry she might suddenly lose transformation halfway and get caught for disturbing public order."

"Didn’t you give her a Qianfeng Ling Mountain disciple badge? Even if caught someone would report it."

Yuan He frowned: "I’m worried she might bite someone—then get beaten."

True Man Yuanling watched his Junior Brother’s gloomy look, initially seemed to have much to say, eventually only showing a mixed-expression of laughter and exasperation.

"Alright, stop overthinking, you’ve taken care of her for so many years, now finally cured, why not relax? Recently, I found a few jars of good wine hidden by Senior Brother, today’s a good day, let’s drink together as brothers."

Upon hearing, Yuan He’s gaze immediately fell onto the External Incarnation of Senior Brother aside: "Senior Brother is still here..."

Sure enough, the next second that rigid External Incarnation stirred, slowly lifting its head to look at Yuanling, its stiff face gradually showing an animated expression.

Just as the head lifted halfway, Yuanling raised his hand placing a Spirit Talisman on its forehead.

"Now he’s no longer here—let’s go, somewhere Senior Brother can’t easily find..."

"Alright, let’s go quickly..."