Located in the laboratory underground of the Four Guardian Stars.
Zhuang Butong gazed at the beautifully stunning woman who was pierced by the long blade, frozen in a particular moment within layers of heavy seals and constraints.
It was akin to revering the legendary figure suspended upon the cross.
A faint thought was wildly influencing him—trying to compel him to rescue the woman beneath the blade at all costs.
"Mr. Zhuang, I remember reading in your file that you have practiced with the Ten Thousand Ancient Blade?" A researcher in a white lab coat approached him.
Zhuang Butong glanced at him and nodded: "Good afternoon, Dr. Chen. Indeed, I have practiced with the Ten Thousand Ancient Blade. Is there a connection to this blade?"
Dr. Chen smiled, not answering directly, but instead introduced to him:
"This is the Deep Red Laboratory, one of the few places in the Federation qualified to use pseudo-gods as experimental subjects. We currently have two long-term core projects, named 'Descent' and 'Heritage'."
Zhuang Butong showed great interest in the word, his gaze once again fixed on the blade.
Intuition told him that this "word" was related to that blade.
Dr. Chen laughed heartily and said, "Mr. Zhuang really is a Martial Artist, only interested in the second project, but in fact, we are all very passionate about the first project."
"Descent, does that refer to the Spirit Ocean?"
Dr. Chen shook his head, hinting at something profound: "Does Mr. Zhuang know the true nature of these pseudo-gods?"
"Do you mean the manifestation of rules, or the Integration of wills?" Zhuang Butong thought for a moment before asking.
To his knowledge, this had always been the biggest debate within the Federation about the definition of wilderness creatures.
Some people thought of Them as simple collections of rules, but others had provided ample evidence to prove that They were essentially no different from gods created by the Federation.
"Of course, I'm referring to 'Integration'." Dr. Chen said with a light chuckle, "The Federation, with its hundreds of billions of citizens, supports the divine system of 'the Four Great Divine Masters, and eleven Divine Monarchs', but what exists in the depths of the wilderness?"
"Perhaps the wilderness is not as desolate and silent as we imagine."
Zhuang Butong's expression turned solemn.
He seemed to grasp what Dr. Chen meant.
Dr. Chen did not continue the topic but instead said, "By the way, Mr. Zhuang, you're probably not aware, but you are not unique."
Zhuang Butong's eyes narrowed, and he spoke gravely: "Besides me, there are others who have been targeted by Them?"
"Of course." Dr. Chen shrugged, "For example, the Martial Arts genius over a hundred years ago, what was his name...
Ah, right, Ji Linyuan! From the deep abyss! They say this name was self-given when he grew up."
"This one had it worse than you. To our knowledge, he was targeted by the No. 01 from the deep wilderness in his childhood, but he tenaciously survived. When he embarked on the Martial Arts path, he further used the gaze of No. 01 as fuel, refining his Fist Intent, and ultimately accomplished an unprecedented feat."
Dr. Chen spoke with admiration.
Every person in this world may encounter suffering, but very few can turn such hardship and threats into opportunities.
Such people are undoubtedly heroes in their own right.
That person, even in the view of the Federation's age of ten thousand years, remains an unmissable brilliance.
Zhuang Butong showed a look of shock; he had never heard of such things.
The common perception of that person was "born with serendipity", which allowed the achievement of becoming the Martial Arts God before Cultivation Body!
He could not have imagined that person had such an origin!
Everyone turned their heads in unison.
The long blade that pierced and suppressed the beautiful woman began to vibrate slightly at this moment, its whistling sound like the beating of a heart, awakening from silence.
The surveillance equipment on the wall that was originally flat suddenly fluctuated with waves.
"Is it you, Mr. Zhuang?" Dr. Chen's eyes sparkled with excitement, "Do you feel its call?"
Zhuang Butong frowned and shook his head: "I don't think the person you are speaking of is me."
"Um—" Dr. Chen raised his eyebrows, looking excited, "If not you, then it must be someone else, which is even more interesting."
He turned and ordered, "Xiao Wang, notify the Military Department to check who on the Four Guardian Stars has practiced the Ten Thousand Ancient Blade and has just achieved some breakthrough or revelation."
Zhuang Butong pondered: "Dr. Chen, is this some kind of revelation? Is this what Heritage is?"
Dr. Chen shrugged: "According to the Martial Artists' view, yes, that's what it is. The blade was left behind by a certain Marshal of the past. Oh, right, it's not a physical entity, but what we call 'the manifestation of rules'; in fact, just researching it has consumed much of our time."
Zhuang Butong stared at the blade and suddenly remembered Ji Jingqiu.
That guy also practiced with the Ten Thousand Ancient Blade, and even inconceivably nurtured five blades...
He had been "confined" here in recent times, cooperating with Dr. Chen for experiments, researching methods to reverse suppress No. 03 and had not managed to contact the outside world.
He wondered whether Ji Jingqiu had started challenging the being on the seventh layer.
There's an adage in Federation Martial Arts—that from the Cultivation Body onward, it represents the borderline between new and ancient Martial Arts.
After True Seed and before Cultivation Body, it is the pinnacle that Martial Arts of the Ancient Planet era could reach!
And that person represents the strongest name in ten thousand years before Cultivation Body!
Inside the Tianfang Dojo.
"Teacher, the eighth layer isn't something we can cleverly get through as we anticipated."
The tall Fang Buyu shook his head and sighed,
"It seems to leave a mark on the eighth layer and to break through the Sixth Limit is not enough; it requires triumphing over that being on the seventh layer!"
His teacher was a middle-aged man with a neatly trimmed mustache, looking less like a Martial Artist and more like a businessman.