Chapter 326: The True Goal of the AI God

The earth-shattering battle that erupted on the border of City 14 instantly drew the attention of all native forces and Reincarnators within the city.

For those Reincarnators whose weakest members possessed strength equivalent to the Nascent Soul stage of a cultivation system, a few hundred miles of border outposts posed no real threat. If they truly wanted to, wiping them out wouldn’t be difficult.

What truly intrigued and concerned them was this—who had the courage to launch an assault on the border outposts, risking being locked onto by the Eye of God?

Every Reincarnator who had been monitoring the situation assumed that the moment an attack was launched, the omnipresent AI God would immediately descend in fury, obliterating the offenders without mercy.

But to everyone’s shock and confusion, even after the battle began and the outposts were nearly annihilated, the Eye of God’s divine punishment didn’t arrive until nearly a full quarter-hour had passed.

That final scene—an endless sea of spiritual energy pouring down from the heavens like a raging torrent, sweeping across the ruined borderlands—burned itself into their memories.

Yet, astonishingly, it precisely avoided the area within City 14, as though an unbreakable barrier surrounded the city.

This strange sight made every Reincarnator who witnessed it keenly aware of just how unique and important City 14 truly was.

And it left them burning with curiosity and desire to know more about the mysterious technique used in the battle—a power capable of evading even the AI God’s surveillance.

In recent days, a few self-assured Reincarnators had managed to acquire what were rumored to be “Heavenly Dao Codes,” said to block both the AI God’s observation and the Sky Canopy’s detection.

They had attempted to use these codes to conduct small-scale probe attacks outside City 14 or gather sensitive intelligence.

But without exception, every one of them failed miserably.

Most were targeted the instant they made a move—some before they could even cause any real destruction.

The Eye of God locked onto them with perfect precision, and unless they had overwhelming strength or life-saving treasures, most perished beneath divine judgment.

The few who did manage to escape did so at great personal cost, barely making it back within City 14’s protective boundary.

The harsh reality of these repeated failures forced every Reincarnator to understand the sheer terror of the AI God’s power on a deeper level.

Left with no better option, they could only place their hopes in this last refuge—City 14—and pray that the city possessed methods powerful enough to counter the AI God.

And now, a glimmer of hope had finally appeared.

A successful assault launched right under the Eye of God’s gaze—this was enough to make countless Reincarnators flock toward the city like moths to a flame.

Almost every Reincarnator began wondering: if they too possessed that mysterious technique capable of evading the AI God’s sight, would they not be able to move freely beyond City 14’s borders, just like that mysterious squad?

Could they not take advantage of that power to achieve massive gains?

Could they even go so far as to attack the nodes of the Sky Canopy—the very extensions of the AI God’s power, constructed by the Cosmic Megacorporations?

Less than three minutes after the battle ended, the most resourceful factions among the Reincarnators had already analyzed the spell waves and divine powers used in the assault.

From that, they deduced that the mysterious team who had displayed such overwhelming might at the border was none other than the infamous Extreme Spell Squad.

Just as many Reincarnators, now like sharks who had tasted blood, began scouring all of City 14 in search of the Extreme Spell Squad—hoping to learn the secrets of the technique they had used to shield themselves from the AI God…

They remained unaware of one thing:

The five members of the Extreme Spell Squad—the very ones who had carried out the mission—were themselves kneeling before Blood River Demon Lord, eyes filled with longing, desperately begging:

“Lord Demon, do you have any more of those Heaven-Sealing Talismans?”

“We risked our lives to carry out your mission! Please, for the sake of our efforts, even if we don’t have merit, we certainly have labored enough! Please grant us just one more Heaven-Sealing Talisman!”

“Even a single one is enough! We’ll pay with all of our plot points, or even trade away our rarest Soul Transformation–level spirit treasures!”

“If there’s ever another mission like this—one where we can safely rack up achievements—please don’t forget about the Extreme Spell Squad!”

“We swear, next time we’ll perform even better!”

After witnessing firsthand the terrifying power and miraculous utility of the Heaven-Sealing Talisman, the five members of the Extreme Spell Squad were completely overwhelmed by its value.

This wasn’t just a tool for gaining merit in the Legion Conflict mission.

It was a life-saving treasure, a miracle talisman that granted them fifteen full minutes of absolute freedom outside the Eye of God’s surveillance.

With one of these in hand, they could retreat safely to City 14 no matter what danger they faced.

Such a treasure was something no “mage” among them could possibly resist.

Yet, despite their fawning pleas, Blood River Demon Lord maintained his cold, inscrutable facade.

He casually brushed off their requests with vague words, then claimed he had other pressing matters and quickly left.

In truth, he had never taken the Extreme Spell Squad seriously.

What a joke.

Even he didn’t possess a single Heaven-Sealing Talisman anymore.

The one he had used for the mission had been personally bestowed by the mysterious and all-powerful Lord Lu Yan.

There was no way he would waste such a treasure on what were, in his eyes, mere cannon fodder.

What truly preoccupied Blood River now was this:

What reward would Lord Lu Yan grant him for successfully completing this test mission?

Heart pounding with excitement and anticipation, Blood River Demon Lord returned to the heavily guarded council building.

Before entering, he straightened his robes, ensuring his appearance was dignified and respectful.

Then, with calm steps, he approached the door of the chairman’s office on the top floor and knocked lightly.

“Come in.”

Lu Yan’s calm, emotionless voice came from within.

Blood River pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Lu Yan sat relaxed behind his wide desk, casually leaning in his seat.

His gaze swept over Blood River once, and then he spoke in that same flat, unfeeling tone:

“You performed reasonably well on this mission. Speak—what kind of reward do you want?”

Blood River’s face immediately lit up with a humble smile. He bowed deeply and said, “Chairman, it is my greatest honor to serve you. I wouldn’t dare ask for any reward—”

Before he could finish, Lu Yan raised a hand to cut him off.

“There’s no need for false modesty in front of me.”

His tone was flat but carried undeniable authority.

As his words fell, three golden auras shimmered into existence in front of Blood River.

Blood River had prepared another round of courteous words—but the moment his eyes fell upon those three golden lights, the words got stuck in his throat.

They were three Heaven-Sealing Talismans—identical to the one he had used earlier.

Blood River’s heart skipped a beat.

He knew full well that after today’s battle, the Extreme Spell Squad’s identity would soon be exposed by the many resourceful Reincarnators.

Once that happened, his role in commanding them to destroy the border outposts would also be revealed.

The power of the Heaven-Sealing Talisman would become public knowledge—and once it did, even the most powerful Title-level Reincarnators would not be able to resist its allure.

At that point, the value of such talismans would skyrocket beyond imagination.

And now, Lord Lu Yan had given him three of them in one go.

Whether he kept them as life-saving trump cards, or sold some to the other Reincarnators, he stood to gain unfathomable benefits.

“Many thanks for your reward, Chairman. I am truly grateful!”

Unable to resist the temptation, Blood River carefully took the three talismans and stored them in his spatial ring.

Then, as though he remembered something, he cautiously asked:

“Chairman, news of the Heaven-Sealing Talismans will surely spread soon, and other Title-level Reincarnators will come to seek them out. How do you plan to handle this situation?”

Lu Yan gave him a calm glance.

“Three days from now, release the following message:

All Title-level Reincarnators may freely receive one Heaven-Sealing Talisman from your hands.

But if they want another, they must successfully use the first one and destroy three Soul Towers built by the Cosmic Megacorporations on their own.”

“As for Reincarnators below the Title level, there is only one way for them to obtain a talisman:

They must join City 14’s Psychic Army, and earn their talisman by accumulating military merit as we push the frontlines outward.”

Blood River’s eyes lit up with realization.

He carefully weighed the implications behind Lu Yan’s words.

Then he bowed again and said solemnly, “I shall obey, Chairman.”

After Blood River respectfully withdrew, Lu Yan’s gaze once again drifted to the window.

Outside, the borderlands were nothing but scorched ruins.

But his brow furrowed slightly.

On the surface, the test mission had been a complete success and had achieved his expected results.

But Lu Yan had noticed something troubling.

According to his precise calculations, the Heaven-Sealing Talisman he had given Blood River should have contained a true Heavenly Dao Code that could resist the world’s constant-correction effect for exactly fifteen minutes.

But based on the Extreme Spell Squad’s actual usage, the talisman’s effectiveness had mysteriously ended several seconds early.

It was only a few seconds, seemingly insignificant.

But to Lu Yan, that tiny change was a foreboding omen.

The influence of the constant correction seemed not to be a fixed, instant process as he’d first assumed.

Rather, it was gradually intensifying—a creeping assimilation that altered foreign code more swiftly over time.

In the beginning, it might have taken an entire day to corrupt one Heavenly Dao Code.

But now, the process was shortening.

The correction was becoming stronger… and harder to resist.

And if that trend continued—if one day the correction could reduce the survivability of true Heavenly Dao Code to zero…

Then what kind of unimaginable disaster would befall this world?

“…Perhaps that is the AI God’s true goal.”

(End of Chapter)