Chapter 2126: The Great Goddess

Director Zhi nodded. "He understands the fundamental concepts, and he was also the one who suggested that we combine microarrays in novel ways. His actions affirmed our beliefs that this technology can usher in a new era. In fact, he has more confidence in microarray technology than anyone else."

Lu Yin immediately understood that this meant that microarray technology had already appeared during the Heavens Sect era.

"Take me to where you’re researching combined microarrays, and also give me a detailed explanation of what Hen Xin suggested," Lu Yin said. As he spoke, Progenitor Smoke appeared next to him.

Lu Yin kept the mirror next to him wherever he went, in order to allow Progenitor Smoke to appear freely whenever she wished. While this meant that Lu Yin had lost his privacy, it was not bad to be constantly accompanied by a Semi-Progenitor. Not to mention, even powerful Semi-Progenitors like Lu Buzheng and the other gatemasters were not the woman’s opponents.

Upon seeing Progenitor Smoke appear, Director Zhi and the others present were completely stunned. Despite the fact that the people of Aurora Fortress were constantly on guard, Progenitor Smoke’s unconscious aura overwhelmed them all. People lowered their heads, and no one dared to look directly at the woman.

Lu Yin waved a hand. "Show me."

Director Zhi was roused as though from a dream, and he quickly snapped everyone nearby out of their daze. Director Zhi was stunned by his own reaction, as this woman’s mere presence had caused him to drop his head. Who could she be?

Zhi Shao had also reacted by lowering his head, but he could not resist sneaking another peak at Progenitor Smoke. Although he could only see her side profile, he was fascinated by the woman’s beauty. She was so, so beautiful, and she had a demeanor that made it impermissible to sully her purity.

Progenitor Smoke glanced around, her eyes gleaming. "So is this the place that can be considered the peak of technology in the Fifth Mainland?"

Lu Yin nodded. "That's right. What I’m about to observe is their research into the next technological breakthrough that should usher in a new era. Are you interested in these things, Senior?"

"Of course. These are the things that Hui Wen likes to fiddle around with the most. I've watched him play around before," Progenitor Smoke replied.

Lu Yin reminded Director Zhi to lead the way.

Director Zhi felt quite confused. "Alliance Leader Lu, who is this senior?"

"The greatest goddess in the universe," Lu Yin replied.

Upon hearing this response, Director Zhi was stunned. Zhi Shao, Master Xuan, and everyone else present was similarly caught off guard, and even Progenitor Smoke herself felt rather shocked. The greatest goddess in the universe? She gave Lu Yin a look of admiration for his description. It sounded absolutely perfect.

Lu Yin had thought a long time before coming up with this description, and he had actually been inspired by Ku Wei. The man had once flattered Lu Yin by claiming that he was the greatest god in the universe, which had badly embarrassed Lu Yin, but he felt that these words would be highly effective on Progenitor Smoke.

Progenitor Smoke felt that Lu Yin was growing on her more and more. "How is your progress with my Wei-Induction Technique?"

Lu Yin gave the woman a smile. "I'm working on it."

"Work hard. If you want to become a Progenitor, it’s important to gather various cultivation methods. That way, you can study and understand many different forms of energy to assist you in breaking through to become a Progenitor. It’s very difficult to become a Progenitor by relying on only a single form of energy, unless you’re able to take things to the extreme, like Ku Jie," Progenitor Smoke advised.

Lu Yin quickly assented.

Director Zhi swallowed dryly. Just who was this woman? She gave advice on how to become a Progenitor, and her words made it sound like she was speaking from experience. Could she actually be a Progenitor? But how could that be possible? The only Progenitor in the entire Fifth Mainland was the Progenitor of Bloodlines, while this woman was too unforgettable for no one to know of her.

Director Zhi glanced at Lu Yin. He had never seen Lu Yin act so subserviently to anyone at all, and he had just deliberately flattered this woman. Given Lu Yin’s current position and status in the Fifth Mainland, there was no need for him to flatter anyone aside from Progenitors. Could this woman truly be such a powerhouse?

The more Director Zhi thought about what he observed, the more he felt that his suspicion was a real possibility. If this woman really was a Progenitor… Director Zhi glanced at his son. How amazing would it be if such an expert took Zhi Shao as a disciple? Eh?

It was only when he glanced at his son that Director Zhi noticed the obsessive glances that Zhi Shao was throwing towards Progenitor Smoke's face.

The man instantly started to panic, and he deliberately slowed his pace to stomp on Zhi Shao’s foot.

Finally, Zhi Shao came to his senses, but he simply looked at Director Zhi's back in confusion.

Lu Yin clearly noticed the behavior of the father and son, but he was unconcerned by it. Most people would be stunned and then embarrassed when they first saw Progenitor Smoke’s face, and it was not unusual for people to develop a bit of an obsession after seeing such gorgeous features. The woman was simply too beautiful, as she herself had said, and her looks easily drew the attention of countless people.

It was not long before Director Zhi led the group into the deepest parts of Aurora Fortress. They entered an area that was filled with bits of technology that looked like they came from some science fiction story. There was someone already there studying a screen, constantly making adjustments to calculations and experimenting with numbers.

Lu Yin looked around, but there was nothing present in the room that he could even remotely understand aside from the fact that a microarray was being studied on the screen.

Things became far more confusing when microarrays were combined, and the endless amount of data being displayed on the screen was enough to overwhelm and confuse anyone.

Even Progenitor Smoke felt confused. She enjoyed studying her self-created wei, but she had no understanding of any other fields of study.

Wei was able to replace a person’s meridians, or even their stellular energy vortex, which meant that Progenitor Smoke had essentially studied biotechnology. Thus, the microarrays on display were utterly incomprehensible to the woman.

"Alliance Leader Lu, the microarray weapons that we currently use mainly feature only a single microarray. These weapons allow an ordinary person to wield a weapon that can take out Explorers," Director Zhi introduced.

Progenitor Smoke instantly felt contemptuous, as she was capable of manufacturing Envoys.

"However, if we increase the amount of pyrolyte, the power of the weapon changes accordingly, and at best, our weapons can match the power of an Enlighter."

Lu Yin frowned. "Wasn’t that possible from the beginning even without pyrolyte?"

Director Zhi explained, "There is a vast discrepancy in power even within the Enlighter realm, and the power of the weapons has doubled compared to what we were first capable of creating."

Lu Yin said, "Director Zhi, are you trying to deceive me because of my ignorance? A single gram of pyrolyte possesses enough destructive power to compare to an attack with a power level of 10,000. Microarrays were already capable of matching the strength of an Enlighter, and now you’re trying to tell me that the addition of pyrolyte is only able to double the power of your weapons?"

"What if only a few grams of pyrolyte is being used?" Director Zhi countered.

Lu Yin arched a brow. "Are you saying that you’re able to double the power of the original microarrays with just a few grams of pyrolyte?"

Director Zhi nodded. "Both the sourcebox array and the raw materials are absolutely indispensable in the production of microarray weapons. Not only do we need the bark from the Mother Tree that allows us to create microarrays, but also the proper materials to contain and utilize the pyrolyte in each attack…"

Director Zhi went on for quite a long time. He would not put so much time and effort into an explanation for other people, but he felt that he had no choice but to do so with Lu Yin.

Director Zhi had attempted to give similar explanations to Hen Xin in the past, but the gatemaster had merely suggested a direction to proceed with the research, and he had no real understanding of any aspect of the associated technologies. After giving a direction forward, Hen Xin had left Aurora Enterprises to fumble around with combining microarray technology in different manners.

However, due to the gap between the eras existing, the possibilities available with modern technology could have been produced long before, given the power of the ancient eras.

"A weapon with a single microarray is very different from a weapon with combined microarrays. Using multiple microarrays is almost entirely dependent on the compatibility of the sourcebox arrays. It requires extreme precision, and more than a hundred people have died from minor mistakes that were present when we tried to combine three microarrays.”

"In our attempt to combine five microarrays, even Realm Array Master Xuan was injured."

"How many microarrays can you combine at present?" Lu Yin asked.

Director Zhi solemnly replied, "Combining five microarrays was what Gatemaster Hen Xin mentioned. He told us that the researcher who developed microarray technology during the Heavens Sect era had managed to combine five microarrays into a powerful merged unit that could threaten even Envoys."

The man’s expression grew stiff as he spoke.

As for Progenitor Smoke, she still felt nothing but contempt for what she was hearing. Threaten Envoys? At her peak, she could simply mass-produce her own Envoys.

While Progenitor Smoke did not care about what she was hearing, Lu Yin grew excited. "These combined microarrays can threaten Envoys? Can they be mass-produced?"

Director Zhi was instantly placed in a tight place. "Our production crew is too short-staffed for mass-production, but we’re trying to find a way to develop an assembly line. Still, we’re struggling because of how few Lockbreakers we have available.”

"On top of that, our highest priority is developing a combination of twenty-eight microarrays. As soon as we succeed in this, we will possess a truly powerful weapon."

Lu Yin felt quite puzzled. "You want to jump straight from combining five microarrays, to twenty-eight?"

Master Xuan jumped in. "Alliance Leader Lu, the difficulty in combining microarrays isn’t because of their numbers, but rather due to how well they fit together. For example, we can combine five microarrays, but we struggle to combine two or four. As for combining twenty-eight microarrays, it theoretically has the greatest compatibility after five."

Lu Yin nodded. "If you succeed, how powerful do you predict the resulting weapon to be?"

Director Zhi straightened up. "It should have a power level of over a million."

Lu Yin was taken aback. "Are you sure?"

A power level of over 500,000 and over a million were completely different concepts, and even Progenitor Smoke grew serious for the first time since she had arrived at Aurora Fortress, and she focused intently on Director Zhi.

Could these common people really develop a weapon with a power level of over a million? That was the same as a six-tribulation powerhouse, and even during the Daosource Sect era, such experts had been rare.

Furthermore, it sounded as though these weapons would also be able to be mass-produced, which was frightening. This was even more intimidating than Progenitor Smoke’s ability to create Envoys.

"While the difficulty in research and even production depends on the compatibility of the microarrays, the raw power is completely dependent on the number of microarrays being combined," Director Zhi continued. "The power of a weapon that incorporates twenty-eight microarrays would far surpass that of a weapon with only five microarrays, and our estimate of a power level of over a million is merely us being conservative. If we can improve the strength of the base materials for the weapons and also increase the amount of pyrolyte being used, then the power of the weapons will only increase even further.”

Lu Yin had long expected the Fifth Mainland to struggle to produce microarrays due to a lack of the Mother Tree’s bark, not to mention the few Lockbreakers participating in the research. If they could gain access to the Perennial World, then they would have access to more than enough of the Mother Tree’s bark.

"Let’s speed up the research into this twenty-eight microarray combination. Tell me what resources you need, and I’ll do my best to take care of it for you," Lu Yin said.

Realm Array Master Xuan instantly replied, "Lockbreakers."

"Technicians and engineers."

"Raw materials."

The last two requests were made by Director Zhi and Wan Gong. All three men brought up three different requests.

Lu Yin took out his wireless jincan and immediately sent a direct message to Grandmaster Xiu Ming. After becoming the Dao Chosen, Lu Yin had received the contact information for all of the most important people in the Fifth Mainland, and Grandmaster Xiu Ming was naturally among those individuals.

While Lockbreakers had not played an essential role in the battles against the Aeternals, they had proven invaluable in setting up various sourcebox arrays and lockbreaking. Lu Yin had already asked Arch-Elder Zen about Grandmaster Xiu Ming, and he had learned that the grandmaster was not very skilled at combat. While he was not a Realmbreaker capable of challenging Semi-Progenitors like Lu Yin’s senior brother, Qing Ping, Xiu Ming was far from being incapable of defending himself against Semi-Progenitors.

In the current Fifth Mainland, Grandmaster Xiu Ming stood at the peak when it came to lockbreaking and sourcebox arrays. He had surpassed even Highsage Grandmaster.

"Lu Yin?" Array Grandmaster Xiu Ming quickly replied.

Lu Yin sent back, "Grandmaster Xiu, I haven't seen you for many years. How have you been?"

In the Neoverse’s Honor Zone, inside the Lockbreakers World, Xiu Ming replied, "Not bad at all. I’ve been quite satisfied. I’ve been informed that you want me to merge the Lockbreakers Society into the Heavens Sect’s Backyard, but what is this organization that you want us to be a part of?"

Lu Yin solemnly said, "Humanity has been separated and disjointed for far too long. If not for the threat of the Aeternals, humanity would have never managed to unite during the last twenty years. A divided Human Domain will easily be conquered by the Aeternals."