159: Chapter 159 Venue Renovation, Hospitality

The morning light had just climbed over the ridge of the East Barrens Main Peak, and Chen Wuwang was already standing at the edge of the high platform in the plaza.

He wasn't wearing armor, but only a set of black nano-spiritual silk combat gear, with sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing the blackened bandages wrapped around his right hand—an old injury from a test run three days ago.

His Mechanical Prosthetic Eye flickered with a faint blue light, scanning the entire construction area inch by inch.

"Is the pouring of the No. 3 Lighthouse base not finished yet?" he spoke, his voice not loud, yet it carried with the wind to the ears of the busy crowd below.

A young clansman with a face full of dust immediately looked up: "Patriarch! The Materials have arrived, but the psionic welding torch overheated, and the interface fused twice. We are currently replacing it with a backup conduit."

Before his voice faded, a dull thud came from the distance, followed by several urgent alarm sirens.

Three figures jumped away from the lighthouse scaffolding as a cluster of blue-purple electric arcs exploded above their heads, sending sparks flying in all directions.

"Again!" someone cursed under their breath. "The frequencies don't match, the energy is backflowing!"

Chen Wuwang stepped down the stairs, his pace extremely fast.

He didn't call for anyone, nor did he pause; he walked directly to the main control Array Core box, flipped open the casing, and his fingers moved rapidly between several chips.

Half a breath later, he pulled out that silver chip from a hidden pocket at his waist and clicked it into the core slot.

"AI Perception Module activated, taking over distribution," he said in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the data stream. "Everyone retreat three meters. Don't touch any equipment for ten breaths."

Hum—

A low-frequency vibration came from underground, like some giant beast slowly opening its eyes.

The originally chaotic lights suddenly quieted down, and the twelve lighthouses lit up one by one with a pale golden halo, advancing from far to near like a tide.

When the last one lit up, the entire ridge seemed to be plated with a flowing galaxy.

"It's done," someone laughed breathlessly.

"It's not done; it's just temporarily suppressed." Chen Wuwang withdrew his hand and wiped the sweat from his brow. "The circuitry Uncle Tiezhu designed was fine to begin with. The problem is that the rune engraving we're using is too old-fashioned; the signal is as congested as a morning market. Anyone have any new ideas?"

A young girl with a ponytail raised her hand, still clutching a welding torch: "I... I took a data packet transmission class at the Artifact Refining Workshop. Can we change the rune sequence to a waveform progression? Send it piece by piece, instead of rushing it all in at once?"

The people around were stunned for a moment, then someone nodded: "That makes some sense. It's like pouring water; a large bucket splashed directly is easy to spill, but switching to a narrow-necked pot and pouring slowly is actually more stable."

"We'll do as she says," Chen Wuwang decided. "You lead the team, take five people, and try modifying the six lighthouses on the east side first."

The girl's eyes widened: "Me? But I'm only at the fifth level of Qi Refining..."

"But your mind is clear." He glanced at her. "Don't worry about levels when working; the Chen family doesn't care about that. Do it well, and your name will be carved into the engineering monument."

The crowd burst into laughter, and the atmosphere instantly relaxed. Someone patted her shoulder: "Let's go, Lin Sanya. From now on, people will call you 'Sister Waveform'!"

Lin Sanya's face turned red, she lowered her head with a smile, and then turned and ran off.

By the time the sun climbed overhead, both sides of the mountain path had been completely renewed.

Nano-grade spiritual silk cables were embedded into the once-ordinary stone steps, covered with a layer of semi-transparent crystal film that would ripple with light patterns when stepped upon.

A lighthouse stood every thirty paces, its body covered in miniature runes, with a floating light sphere suspended at the top, rotating gently with the wind and casting shifting shadows.

"This doesn't look like a place for cultivation; it looks more like some interstellar port," someone muttered.

"It was meant to be," another replied. "The Patriarch said, Cyber Cultivation is half technology and half Heavenly Dao. This path we're walking on now is called the 'Returning Path Guidance Array.' Guests will sense a welcome signal as soon as they approach."

"I heard it's the Angel Race coming this time? Do they really have wings?"

"Nonsense, why else would they be called Angels? But it's said their spaceships are larger than mountains, so we have to clear the area specifically for their landing."

As they were speaking, a commotion came from the direction of the Stargazing Platform. A group of people surrounded the central array diagram, looking nervous.

When Chen Wuwang arrived, he heard a youth reporting: "The simulation exercise is ninety percent complete. When the final sword strikes, the 'Star-Orbit Sky-Lock' array only lights up to the seventh node, and everything after that goes dark."

"Find the cause." He crouched down, his palm pressed against the rune lines on the ground, closing his eyes to feel.

After a moment, he opened his eyes: "Poor grounding conduction. The Spiritual Pressure released by the mecha's feet wasn't fully channeled into the ley lines, causing a feedback delay of 0.3 seconds—enough for the Formation to judge it a failure."

"Then what should we do? Relay the wires? There's no time."

"No need." He stood up. "Go to the warehouse and find the Bipolar Spirit-Conducting Boots, the batch specially made by Chen Tiezhu. Bring all those with serial numbers D-7 and above."

In less than fifteen minutes, the boots were delivered.

After changing them, they retested. The youth controlled the mecha to step onto the stage and struck with a sword.

In an instant, a silver line lit up on the ground; with the second strike, another; after a seven-sword combo, seven runes ignited in sequence. Finally, a vertical slash came down—with a boom, ten thousand lights burst forth!

The sky seemed to be torn open as countless starlights surged from the Array Core, condensing into a complete star-orbit totem high in the air, rotating slowly and making the entire peak look like a place descended upon by gods.

"Holy crap..." someone looked up in a daze, "This isn't a performance; this is summoning a god, isn't it?"

"Xiao Dao's arrangement is truly ruthless." Another person clicked their tongue. "It looks like a sword dance, but actually, the entire defensive Array Core is hidden inside. Laymen see the spectacle, but experts know there's a killing intent in every step."

Chen Wuwang didn't speak, just stared at the energy consumption curve on the data panel.

a long time， He said softly：“ pretty， But it also takes a toll on one's life.. Peak output lasts less than 45 minutes.”

By the time night fell, the energy problem was finally solved.

The backup spirit core units were connected to the System, decorative mechanisms in non-essential areas were turned off, and only the main path lights and the core Array Core were kept on standby.

The plaza returned to silence, with only the mecha squads standing quietly, the green patterns on their armor flickering slightly like breathing.

Chen Wuwang walked onto the high platform alone.

Beneath his feet was a re-polished obsidian platform, with the six words "Strong Root, Expand Territory, Establish Power" carved on the edge.

In the distance, the golden light of the twelve lighthouses remained unextinguished; in the middle, three Ruins-Breaker Mechas patrolled in a triangular Formation, hovering low once every lap to demonstrate the process of self-repairing cracks healing; at the very front, the star-orbit stage was as silent as an abyss, waiting only for that final sword to fall.

He stood for a long time.

The wind stirred his silvery-white hair, the blue light of his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye gradually dimmed and finally closed. The corner of his mouth quirked up slightly—it was very brief, but real.

Below, people were packing up their tools and talking in low voices, their laughter weary but bright.

A child ran past holding a model mecha, nearly hitting a pillar, but was caught and held by an adult with a smile.

"Stop fooling around; we're meeting important people tomorrow."

"I want to pilot a mecha too!"

"Wait until you reach Foundation Establishment."

Chen Wuwang didn't look back. He knew everyone was waiting—waiting for the first streak of light on the distant horizon, waiting for that legendary caravan to descend.

But he did not move.

Standing there was an order in itself.