Divine Convenience Store-Chapter 592: It has to be done soon

After giving them a brief rundown of what had transpired inside, Lin Mo urged Chieftain Borok and Liu Jingshan to gather at the command tent. Meanwhile, he had Liu Xiaoyu find a Priest of the Poison Demon Cult to hand over the Hunter-Killer for study.

Since the High Priest had been granted access to the Boundless Knowledge Jade to establish his Institute of Forbidden Anatomy, the mangled specimen was the perfect inaugural gift, even though he still hadn’t heard about when and where they would build it. Nevertheless, he’ll be expecting the High Priest to work on it right away.

"So, I will preface by saying that the Dreilling inside is a terrifying race. And it is imperative to reset the Anchor as soon as possible." Lin Mo started as he swept his gaze around the highest-ranking individuals of each faction present at the moment.

"Anyhow, we’ve gotten lucky that the Dreilling broke one of the Anchor’s rules and it resulted in Areas 4 and 5 being locked. That brought us closer to Area 6, the Core Area."

"That place is definitely highly guarded. Not to mention, most cultivators below the Core Formation Stage will not be immune to the Highland Domain and their ability to dominate their minds." Lin Mo finished.

To send anyone below the Nascent Soul Stage, or anyone lacking profound mental fortitude, into the Core Area is not just sending them to their deaths. It would be akin to actively supplying the enemy with fresh troops.

As for those who remained captive, Lin Mo could only imply that they should give up for now and focus on the big picture. If by some miracle they were still alive and not experimented with, then they’d naturally rescue those they would find.

A heavy silence fell over the tent. Chieftain Borok’s massive hands clenched into fists. The thought of fighting his own kin, warped into mindless puppets, still gnawed at his warrior’s pride.

Elder Liu Jingshan stroked his beard, his brows furrowed. "If what you say is true, Shopkeeper, it’ll truly be a battle of quality, not quantity. But even a Nascent Soul expert like us is not immune to a sufficiently powerful mental assault."

"Mhm." Lin Mo nodded, leaning over the tactical map projected on the central table. He tapped the glowing red zone designated as Area 6.

"Which is why you need to understand exactly what we are facing. I had a rather... illuminating conversation with one of those long-eared species. I told you our objective is to gain information. We were lucky that the one who greeted us had a loose tongue."

Saving his words, he didn’t mention that the conversation involved dodging massive bone-blades and severing grafted limbs. That was just a standard customer complaint resolution process.

"The Dreilling hierarchy in this Anchor is divided among three high-value targets," Lin Mo explained, holding up three fingers. "First, there is Zyrith. A ’Mind-Weaver’. He was the first Dreilling who appeared in the Anchor. He was responsible for the initial disastrous encounter that left many barbarians and cultivators enslaved. He was also responsible for setting up the Highland Domain, which exerted extreme psychic pressure and the fleshy control-heart we destroyed in Area 1. He is arrogant, but his mental arts are insidious. He treats our cultivators like crude marionettes."

He lowered one finger. "Second, the one we encountered and spoke to. Xylos. A ’Flesh-Shaper’. He was a different kind of Dreilling. Other than strengthening his flesh by absorbing various properties and grafting them into his body, he could also corrupt a body. As an example, he took the base forms of a Decrint Tribe creature, spliced them with beasts or possibly unfortunate cultivators, too, if there were any. He powers them with Highland Energy cores, volatile or otherwise. He calls his path the ’Path of the Apex’. Somewhat similar to demonic cultivators that also focused on body cultivation. The monstrosity my assistant brought back is one of his creations."

Lin Mo paused, allowing them to digest the information he brought.

The cultivators of the Eastern Abyssal Domain were used to fighting beasts or rival sects who used predictable elemental arts or martial techniques. Facing an enemy that genetically modified its soldiers and hacked minds was a terrifying paradigm shift.

"And the third?" Liu Jingshan prompted as he couldn’t help but wonder how terrifying the next one would be.

"The third," Lin Mo said, lowering his final finger. "Is possibly a leader. A female Dreilling named Vespera. According to Xylos, who, I must say, has terrible operational security when his ego is bruised, she is a Mind-Weaver of a far higher caliber than Zyrith. Xylos is a brute, but he spoke of her with instinctual fear. He claimed she could unravel a mind until it was nothing but a drooling husk, and that she feeds on the refined despair of broken wills."

A collective shudder ran through the bodies of the strong cultivators inside the tent.

"But that is not the worst part," Lin Mo continued, tapping the center of Area 6 on the map. "She isn’t just sitting on a throne waiting for us. She is operating something they call a ’Convergence Engine’. From my understanding, it is a terraforming device. If it reaches one hundred percent saturation, this Anchor will cease to be a mere beachhead. It will permanently overwrite the environmental laws of the Sunken Caverns, turning it into a sovereign extension of the Highland Realm. The corruption will spill out, and the Graypeak Mountains will become a dead zone. Although I suspect that the engine was only a fabrication or she may not be able to complete it just by herself, considering its complexity, we have to be mindful of that possibility."

"A permanent breach..." Borok muttered. "Our hunting grounds... our homes..."

"Hopefully, it won’t come to that, Chieftain," Lin Mo stated. His tone remained calm while radiating the authority that seemed to steady the wavering morale in the room. "Our Divine Convenience Store has a very strict policy against unauthorized renovations on our property. We are going to evict them. And that’s why it has to be done soon."

He straightened up, addressing the room. "I will once again urge our patrons to come here to hold the perimeter. The Core Formation and Nascent Soul experts will come inside to secure Areas 1 through 3. The task will be to set up defensive formations and maintain a kill zone. If any mind-controlled captives approach, use non-lethal pulse rounds and capture them."

Lin Mo looked at Liu Jingshan. "Elder Liu, I need you to coordinate with Master Liu Zhongzhu for the defense here. His presence will be momentous for the frontline."

"Understood, Shopkeeper. But who will strike the Core?" Jingshan asked. "If numbers are a liability, who can withstand Vespera’s mental assault?"

"I’ve said it already. It will be a specialized strike team," Lin Mo replied. "Your patriarch, Liu Tianfeng and the Spirit Severing Ancestors."

Yan Chen of the Azure Gale Sect, who had been listening quietly from the back, finally spoke up, incredulous. "Shopkeeper, I respect the might of the Liu Clan Patriarch, but you mentioned before that even Spirit Severing Stage cultivators might not be able to fully resist the psychic pressure. And now, they’re going to face three Dreillings of different specialties? One of whom is a terrifying Mind-Weaver? Isn’t that walking into a slaughterhouse?"

"It would be," Lin Mo agreed, his lips curving into a confident smile, "if they were walking in blind and unprotected. But they are patrons of the Divine Convenience Store. And we provide solutions."

Not counting the divine artifact that Lihua loaned to him which he would entrust to Liu Tianfeng to provide themselves a better chance at fighting those long-eared species at their peak state, the store wasn’t short of artifacts and talismans to use.

Furthermore, those Ancestors wouldn’t have lived for so long if they didn’t have any life-saving treasure. And last but not least, one shouldn’t underestimate the stubborn foundation of those who have been walking the path of immortality.

"An oak tree might be rigid, Elder Yan, but it still takes a hurricane to uproot it."

Finishing with that, Lin Mo allowed them to speak their mind as what he had planned were only the bare bones, he needed them to fill it.

Once that’s done, he went to find Xiaoyu to return to the store.

He didn’t need to personally inform the Ancestors anymore. With the Bulletin Board in place as well as the new Social Link feature, the flow of information had already reached them even before he finished speaking inside that tent.

Still, there were things that he needed to coordinate with them. For example, the implementation of one of the Anchor Interference Upgrades, the Restriction Loosening.

Liu Tianfeng is a Void Refinement Stage cultivator. He’s a stage higher than the current limit of the Anchor’s entrance. He needs to time it perfectly so that no Dreilling stronger than Vespera will be able to pass through from their side when he loosens it by spending Dimension Essence.

It’ll be a quick operation to destroy the Anchor’s core, effectively shutting it down completely. It won’t be like the Argent Covenant Anchor, as the Dreilling’s ability to dominate a cultivator’s mind is too risky.