Big Data Cultivation

The continuous rain at Hesheng Base was orchestrated by Feng Jun, for a simple reason—he suspected the Rain Prayer Array might have been exposed.

Last time, he had barely placed the Energy Stones when the Insect Race’s attack ensued, raising his suspicions.

Since he was suspicious, he decided to test it out. Besides, he was late in delivering information last time, which caused harm to Hesheng, making him feel a bit guilty, like "I didn’t kill Boren, yet Boren died because of me."

Mountain Master Feng now also pursued a clear mind, and he disliked encountering trouble during deliveries. He had many things to do, including continued cultivation; time was very precious, is it not?

Therefore, he occasionally activated the Rain Prayer Array to test the temper of the insects while assessing Hesheng’s defense capacity; as for the consumption of Spirit Stones, it was not an issue.

Anyway, when he goes to collect goods, it’s just a mere footprint, which doesn’t take much time.

Thus, after more than forty Golden Core-level Insects retreated, the skies near Hesheng Base remained cloudy for five days and nights, with rain persisting—sometimes heavy, sometimes light—with occasional short pauses, but within an hour, the rain would resume.

However, the Insect Race, having suffered casualties among their Golden Core ranks, did not probe again until the fourth night when He Runxian received a call from Feng Jun to shut down the energy field at heap number three, causing the Golden Core-level insects to appear suddenly in the latter half of the night.

This time, the Insect Race deployed over thirty Golden Core-level insects, and among the low-level attacking insects at the base, there were several Outdust stage Tianmu Insects, clearly in hopes of discovering something.

Unfortunately, the base’s response was swift, far surpassing the quickness of the first nighttime sneak attack. The energy shield at heap number three was quickly raised, resisting the insect attack.

Simultaneously, various anti-aircraft firepower continued to fire, although the Insect Race heightened their vigilance, they were powerless against the stronger anti-aircraft firepower, injuring two Golden Core-level insects severely and three lightly within a brief two-minute period.

This outcome made the act of shutting down the energy shield at heap number three seem more like a trap.

After five minutes of sustained attack, the Golden Core-level insects realized they couldn’t penetrate the dome at heap number three, and with two more injured among them, a signal was sent for all insects to retreat swiftly.

The following night, the energy shield at heap number five was shut down, but the Insect Race did not respond until over five hours later, near dawn, when they suddenly launched another sneak attack.

However, it was most unfortunate that this was again a trap. Just as they reached the base’s periphery, the entire base erupted with various firepower, and another Golden Core-level insect accidentally got hit.

The Insect Race did not back down but pressed on to their attack position, firing three volleys at heap number five, then decisively retreated upon finding the defense impenetrable.

Constantly observing all this, He Runxian couldn’t help but wipe the sweat off his forehead, "That was close!"

For the past two days, all arrangements had been carried out according to the broker’s plan. And just at dawn, the broker delivered the cargo, directly placing it in heap number five—its raw materials had been cleared out last night.

Regardless, the pressure of 1.5 million tons of food and medicine, along with over 2 million tons of Energy Stones, was overwhelming. So far, the cargo in heap number five had not been fully transferred.

Outside, the drizzle persisted, and while the temperature was indeed low, sweat continued to pour uncontrollably from He Runxian’s forehead.

Finally, the Insect Race retreated, and he breathed a sigh of relief, "This time, this time really... was truly fortunate."

Feng Jun was also invested in this battle because he wasn’t entirely confident in anticipating the Insect Race’s reactions; he was even ready to call in Luan Xiong True Sage if needed. Fortunately, it didn’t exceed his expectations, and they got through this hurdle with only minor danger.

Since he didn’t want He Runxian to discern his perception capabilities clearly, he called out through the handheld device the next afternoon, "The cargo was successfully delivered; you should have received it intact as well... This cooperation ends here."

"Your Excellency, just a moment," He Runxian had much more to say, but unfortunately, there was no response from the other side.

Feng Jun first arrived at the Folding Ruler Star System. He had been away for quite a while, and ammunition was somewhat lacking when he left; it couldn’t be delayed any longer.

However, after arriving, he found the developments were not bad. The Nascent Soul insects across the star system had been thoroughly dealt with by two True Sages, and currently, cultivators were hunting the insects on the planets.

The two True Sages weren’t idle either, exploring mines on various planets while guarding against a potential second wave of Insect Race reinforcements.

After delivering ten units of ammunition and replenishing some damaged individual combat units, Feng Jun proceeded to the Big Planet to deploy the newly arrived mining equipment.

This time’s supply wasn’t completely absorbed by the cultivator team of White Pebble Beach. However, Feng Jun didn’t overly favor the cultivators of the two sects, giving both sides equal shares of equipment—any surplus equipment wasn’t distributed, as he paid out of his pocket for them.

Ever since realizing the two sects were collecting Energy Stones, potentially intending to use them on Tianqin, he decided not to overly support the other party—if they wanted Energy Stones, so did he.

He could contribute some goodwill for the rescue of the human race in this world, but if there were other factors involved, he wouldn’t accompany them—sorry, guys, I’ve never been a Holy Mother.

In fact, just looking at the actions of Zun Sheng and others, one could tell that their private motives were no less than those of ordinary people.

After distributing the equipment, he visited the Zhe Chi star system and found the female true immortal of formation paths there.

The female true immortal was busy designing formations for different Real People—all of whom were Golden Core level. She really didn’t have to do it, but she treated everyone from White Pebble Beach equally.

After greeting her, Feng Jun expressed his desire to commission her to design an energy stone-powered Rain Prayer Array.

"Rain Prayer Array?" A hint of surprise flashed in the formation master’s eyes, "Is this really necessary?"

Actually, she wasn’t the only one thinking this; even in Tianqin, the Rain Prayer Array was considered almost useless. Aside from cultivators who played with spirit plants, who would think about it?

To be more precise, even in the Xuanshui Sect, which valued water methods the most, not many carried Rain Prayer Arrays with them. Otherwise, when the Huo Liu True Immortal from the Spirit Plant path customized a Nascent Soul-level Rain Prayer Array, wasn’t she mocked for hundreds of years?

"I think it’s necessary," Feng Jun spoke seriously, "Among these insects, there are many at the Nascent Soul and Golden Core levels, but even more at the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refinement periods. This means that many future battles will still occur on the ground, making the Rain Prayer Array quite necessary."

Insects at the Foundation Establishment period can fly, but generally, they can’t break through the atmosphere. The main force for space combat is at least the Golden Core Insect Tribe, so the Rain Prayer Array is indeed effective against Foundation Establishment insects.

The formation master’s eyes flashed with a peculiar color, "I’ve always heard that Mountain Master Feng pities mortals and likes mundane things. So, it turns out to be true."

"Actually, it’s not entirely what you think," Feng Jun muttered in his heart, cursing the rumors that made him seem like a Holy Mother, when in fact, he truly found it useful.

However, the worst way to refute rumors is to explain. So, he didn’t explain, just smiled slightly, "I’m also thinking of designing a mining exploration array. I might trouble you in the future. This world has many unknown mineral resources that I’m worried can’t be deduced correctly."

The mining exploration array he mentioned was a casual fabrication. Tianqin cultivators probably didn’t have this concept. Most of the time, exploration was still based on deduction—if there really was a mining exploration formation, would he have had a chance to enjoy the profits of that medium-small Spirit Stone Mine on the Ice Plate?

But the rules of the Insect World are different from Tianqin’s; there are too many unknown mineral resources, such as Energy Stone Mines.

Under such circumstances, even people from the Taixu Sect, who are good at detecting the earth veins, would not dare to claim they can deduce any minerals.

Ren Tu True Sage of Taixu is considered a mighty one, right? He hasn’t detected any decent mineral resource in the Insect World during his time there. So Feng Jun believes...there’s great potential for a mining exploration array. The key is to know what specialties that world has.

However, the formation master’s expression was quite strange. After holding back for a while, she said, "We do have mining exploration arrays, but unfortunately, they reveal too much of heavenly secrets, and they consume too much, making them unusable..."

After she explained a few points, Feng Jun understood. The mining exploration array in formation paths was equivalent to Earth Realm’s exploration teams, where exploring and confirming mines required very high costs.

In short, without experts in earth veins helping to verify vein patterns, those blindly using the mining exploration array would end up losing everything, even their underwear.

This is similar to some oil fields in the Earth Realm, where conditions seem suitable for oil but hiring drilling teams to dig wells, several wells are drilled without finding oil.

The mining exploration array has the potential to be profitable only when used in conjunction with earth vein experts; otherwise, it’s like aimlessly drilling wells in the wilderness, with a probability of losing money as certain as Pure Gold—four nines!

But who among the true experts in earth veins would want the mining exploration array to intervene? Isn’t it much better to enjoy the spoils alone?

So, formations painstakingly designed such an array, only to find it unprofitable—too out of touch with practical application.

And, as Feng Jun said, the mining exploration array focuses on collecting fundamental information about mineral resources.

In short, the formation master was clear about her point; the mining exploration array...is likely a failed product.

Feng Jun truly didn’t know that formations had already explored this but then thought about it and felt relieved. After all, this was one of the Seven Sects and Eighteen Paths, with so much to ponder every day; how many other odd arrays weren’t attempted?

He thought it was an original idea, yet didn’t expect it had been tried long ago.

Alright, this wasn’t a serious issue either; every cultivator might think they are unique, but most of the time, everyone walks paths others have trodden before—there’s nothing new under the sun.

However, he wasn’t discouraged but instead asked, "Then can you design an array that converts energy stones into spiritual energy?"