CHAPTER 473: ANOMALY & CORRUPTION SENSOR NETWORK

Lin Mo still found it amusing that the Great Poison Demon, the Chaotic Deity worshipped by the Poison Demon Cult, became a part of the Divine Pantheon. How did Taihao do it? He wondered.

Was it through overwhelming power and submission, or a ’convenient’ proposal that even a being who thrived in chaos couldn’t refuse?

But thanks to him, the [Area Monitor] with its limited capabilities to monitor the vicinity of the store had been upgraded. It was now something far grander. Its new function allows him to scan for undiscovered dormant Anchor and even Conduit Towers.

"What is that look, Boss?" Liu Xiaoyu asked, interrupting his thoughts. "You have that ’I just invented a new, ridiculously overpowered way to make money and save the world’ smile on your face."

"Your description is totally off, you silly girl." Lin Mo replied. Didn’t I show it to you earlier?"

He gestured to the two gorgeous Golden Core experts and the rest of the expedition team, who had gathered around.

"As you all know, finding dormant Anchors or even active ones that haven’t been discovered yet is like looking for a specific grain of sand on an endless beach. The process is too inefficient without spending a lot of resources scouring every corner of the realm. This upgrade of the [Area Monitor], however, would enable our store to scan a certain area of the ’spiritual poison’ that Goddess Xingxing spoke of."

He pulled up the Divine System Interface, the new function glowing with a malevolent yet exciting purple and green light.

[Anomaly & Corruption Sensor Network]

[Function: Utilizes an integrated divine sense to perform a wide-area scan for concentrations of foreign energy to locate Outer Realm Anchors and Conduit Towers.]

[Area Size & Cost:

- Local Scan: Free. Three tries per day.

- Regional Scan: Currently Locked. Requires the Divine Convenience Store to reach the tier ’Heavenly Blessed Emporium’.

- Continental Scan: Currently Locked. Requires the Divine Convenience Store to reach the tier ’Myriad Realms Chain’.]

[Cooldown: 24 hours per scan type.]

At the moment, only the Local Scan was available and it could only scan an area with a radius of 10 kilometers. Earth has a radius of around 6000 kilometers. As for the Realm of Nine Heavens, it was probably bigger than that.

Apart from that, Lin Mo still had no idea how far the store was from the Heavenly Blessed Emporium tier. It could be the next one after its current tier of Renowned Store or a few more tiers above that.

But then again, it’s just the way the Divine System Interface works. While he can suggest new functions or perhaps even create one himself, there are still limitations to it as it is running beneath the Heaven’s Will’s notice.

To implement something too grand and reality-defying would surely get the attention of the realm’s consciousness.

"A ten-kilometer radius is... restrictive," Chu Yueying commented, her pragmatic nature coming to the forefront. "This whole mountain range alone is thousands of kilometers wide. We could scan for a year and still find nothing."

"A valid point," Lin Mo conceded. "But it’s not about scanning randomly, Miss Chu. Why not do it intelligently? We are here, in a hidden vale that concealed an immortal-grade Secret Realm for who knows how long. Places like this, where the laws of space and spiritual energy are naturally thin or unique, are the most likely spots for an Anchor to take root undetected. Besides, what Miss Yu needs is to discover those points near the cities and territories her caravan will be visiting. That way, we can deploy Store Beacons and Celestial Shuttle Hubs, connecting this region to our network. More importantly, it’s free."

Yu Qingyan nodded, her eyes gleaming with understanding. "I see... So, that’s why you’re suggesting that I continue with my original intention of distributing the store products in this region."

A faint, lovely blush touched Yu Qingyan’s cheeks at his direct and slightly intimate invitation. It was a simple question, but it carried the weight of a personal promise, a gesture that went beyond a simple boss-and-distributor relationship. Before she could even form a reply, two other voices chimed in.

"Oh, the second floor?" Liu Xiaoyu’s grin was filled with mischief. "It’s great! Boss has this new coffee machine that makes an amazing bitter drink that clears your head. You can add more cream and sugar if you don’t like it! And the chairs are super comfy. We should have a Golden Patron party there sometime, right, Boss?"

"A party sounds... chaotic," Chu Yueying added, her own smile turning sharp as she looked at Lin Mo. "I, for one, would be more interested in a private tour of the other facilities. Perhaps a dual cultivation chamber in those Premium Cultivation Rooms, Shopkeeper? I can give you a firsthand review of their effectiveness for a new Core Formation expert."

Ending that with a wink, not only Yu Qingyan but even the other women among their group found themselves faintly blushing at the suggestion. Even Xiaoyu’s goofy facade almost broke.

Lin Mo felt the familiar sensation of a conversational minefield opening up beneath his feet. Clearly expecting the reaction, he could see the amusement in Chu Yueying’s eyes.

He couldn’t help but wonder if teasing back and playing along with it would be more convenient than a tactical retreat into professionalism.

"All in due time, Miss Chu." He eventually answered as his gaze turned back to the glowing interface of the Sensor Network. "For now, let’s get back to business. We have a unique opportunity here, no?"

The woman slyly giggled before nodding. With that, the mischievous tension in the air was instantly brushed away.

Lin Mo commanded, "Alright. Let’s use up all three tries, circling around this location and heading to the nearest city."

Yu Qingyan already provided him with the map that the Verdant Sky Pavilion gathered regarding the Northern Arctic Dominion. With the system interface integrating the data into the Area Monitor’s map, those known routes were already reflected.

He accessed the [Anomaly & Corruption Sensor Network], focusing his intent on the current location. "System, perform a Local Scan."

A soft ripple of purple-green light emanated from the Store Token in Lin Mo’s hand. It was not a wave of spiritual energy but something more fundamental. A pulse of pure ’divine sense’ that washed over the 10-kilometer radius, scanning every nook and cranny for any anomaly.

Its effect was also reflected on the system panel before them, it showed a circle scan at the area he indicated.

The expedition team watched in silence. The scan was over only after a few seconds.

[Local Scan 1/3 Complete. No significant anomalies detected.]

"Hmph. Told you it wouldn’t be that easy," Chu Yueying murmured, though there was a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Patience is a virtue, Miss Chu. And a key component of a convenient strategy," Lin Mo replied calmly. He then picked another area from the projected map, moving a few kilometers north.

The purple-green pulse washed over the landscape once more. This time, the system panel flickered.

[Local Scan 2/3 Complete. Minor concentration of spiritual poison detected. Source appears to be a nest of mutated Frostfang Weasels. Threat level: Low. Not an Anchor.]

"A fight! Finally!" Xiaoyu started cracking her knuckles, but Lin Mo held up a hand.

"Not our target. We’re looking for the source, not the symptoms. It’s an inconvenience, but a minor one. We have a bigger fish to fry," he said, already panning the map further north, northwest, towards the outskirts of the nearest major settlement, a city that seemed to be under the watch of one of the upper-tier sects of the Northern Arctic Dominion, the Arctic Sea Palace.

[Local Scan 3/3 Complete. Detected a significant reading of foreign energy. Determined to be a Conduit Tower connected to a Fractured Plane. Foreign creatures can be detected patrolling around the tower. Currently, no cultivators are detected around it. Judgement: Undiscovered]

Lin Mo’s brows shot up. It was near a major settlement, the seat of a powerful sect, yet no one had discovered it? Was it located in a terrain so difficult to access that none of the foreign creatures that spilled out had managed to wander outside its immediate vicinity?

"A Conduit Tower..." Yu Qingyan breathed, her eyes wide with a mixture of excitement and concern. "Right under the nose of the Arctic Sea Palace. If it’s been there for a while, the creatures within could be a significant threat. But why has it gone unnoticed?"

Before Lin Mo could answer, the system panel flickered, showing the details of the tower.

[Conduit Tower - Undiscovered]

[Status: Active]

[Current Threat Level: Low - Next Tower Break in 2 days unless a floor has been cleared]

[Number of Floors: 5]

[Accessibility: Nascent Soul Stage and below]

"Indeed. It is undiscovered but it’s also quite a small Conduit Tower compared to the two we have already integrated into the store. But a Tower Break in one day..." Lin Mo turned his gaze to Yu Qingyan and her team, "We have only seen an Anchor being breached but not a tower breaking yet. I believe it will have the same effect. Miss Yu, I guess this is your first challenge after gaining your fortuitous encounter. We know how valuable the insights and rewards we can gain in a tower are. And if someone completes it before we can integrate it into the store, it might get destroyed."