......
"As astute as always, Shadow Emperor!"
Figuring that the Shadow Emperor would be the first to notice this peculiarity, Organizer Ming Chao had already prepared a PowerPoint beforehand.
Bringing up the PowerPoint, he took out a wand and pointed at all the main points of the phenomenon. Afterward, he and all the Elemental Nation representatives discussed anything that needed to be brought up.
From this conversation, the central points of focus were primarily targeted toward the 'High-level Formation Master Girl' and the practically 'Mirror Copies of one another'.
If not for the fact that the hooded figures had varying frames and body types, everyone would have started to believe that they were clones.
But considering that Nascent Soul Clones could not have their fundamental appearances altered, this theory was ruled out. Instead, it was replaced with the original 'Mass cult indoctrination' hypothesis.
However, more than all of that combined, what truly left the Elemental Nation representatives in awe was the sheer skill of the Formation Master girl...
In pure rank alone, she surpassed anything that the Elemental Nations could offer. And furthermore, her skill and control were practically unmatched in the Formation profession!
Even Grandmaster Formation Masters would find themselves hard-pressed to keep up with this unknown black-haired girl...
"Do we have any information available for her identity?" Asking this question, the Ice Emperor was clearly most concerned about this mysterious variable.
If it was a Wandering Witch from the Witch Academy's of the Western Isles, then they could have a major issue on their hands...
Skill and talent like that didn't just pop up from nowhere (it did); therefore, there had to be a reasonable explanation for the girl's origins.
However, much to the dismay of all those present, the Organizer heaved a heavy sigh before saying, "That girl and the hooded figures are a complete mystery... The only thing we can use to connect them to anything in the world would be the fact that assassins were sent out right around the time that the phenomenon was first sighted.
The assassins in question were dispatched on order of someone very high up in the Fire Nation. And from numerous sources, we inferred that the assassination was a failure and the 'unknown targets' got away."
"..." "..." "..."
As if in sync, everyone looked toward the Eldest Princess of the Fire Nation, who also just so happened to be standing in place of her father, the Emperor.
"Tsk! Why are you all looking at me? If it's about the reason we sent out an assassination party headed by a famous Middle Nascent Soul Realm Assassin, then I have no idea. Maybe go and ask my father if you so badly want to know!?"
'Fiery-tempered and in a constant bad mood, the Fire Nation's Eldest Princess is obviously the daughter of her father...'
Understanding that he would get nothing useful out of her, the Organizer decided to bring up the real reason why he had called everyone together.
"The 'Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon'... We will require the help of everyone gathered here if we wish to understand its reason for existing and also its potential connections with the craters that replaced what were once perfectly fine cities..."
Flipping his gaze across all those in the venue, Ming Chao was clearly waiting for them to give their answer.
And just as he expected...
"Alright, I will send a few squads composed of my Late Nascent Soul Realm Generals and then a number of Middle and Early Nascent Soul Realm Captains."
"I will do the same."
"That is fine with me."
"That was the saying, right? Well, who gives a fuck, Umu!"
Without wasting a second more on useless chitter chatter, he spammed the clone purchase button!
FWIP! FWIP!
With a couple buzzing sounds, 13 clones with strength in the Late Nascent Soul Realm materialized from thin air!
Looking at all the glorious slaves before him, Lucifer repeatedly bobbed his head before sticking out his hand. Then, with a bright flash of blue and golden light, he armed the clones with some high-level equipment in the Middle-Sky Rank.
Although it was nothing special, it was the best that a small place like the Elemental Nations had to offer...
"Welp, if only I could find another talented, specialized freak like Li Yan. Then, maybe I could have a useful person make all my equipment for me... But unfortunately, I doubt such a talent in blacksmithing actually exists..."
Lucifer himself was a jack of all trades; thus, he was not particularly good in any one thing. But with combined talent in the picture, he was unparalleled!
After all, no other person had a 'Cultivation Talent' stat that evenly distributed talent across all aspects of existence.
"Speaking of cultivation talent... I have been trying to create enough Sources to break through into the Heaven Rank. But even with 95,000 Sources, I have still yet to make that final leap... Maybe I should find some more Spirits and have them forcefully shit out all the Sources I need...?"
At the utterance of these words, all Spirits in the world suddenly felt a shiver crawl down their spines.
However, with a slight head shake, Lucifer rejected that idea and said, "Even though that could potentially work out quite well, I highly doubt there are enough high-quality spirits to make such a method viable."
In the end, he figured it was best to just continue creating more Sources and placing them inside his Dantian.
Eventually, he would breakthrough into the Heaven Rank, right?
Right...?
Unbeknownst to Lucifer, while lost in his own thoughts, his little sister had already finished setting down the formation. And he also seemed to be too absorbed within himself to notice the substantial increase in Qi density inside the Walking Birdhouse.
"Hmm..."
Eventually, he did realize the completion of the Formation. And from what his face emulated, he was clearly pleased with the end result.
Pat. Pat.
"Nice job, little squirt! So far, you have become the most useful to me, so if you want to, you can take a break-"
While softly giving the short goth midget some headpats, he failed to notice the aura of sadness emanating from her aura.
"Umu?"
Finally realizing that there was a change in his little sister, he asked, "What's the matter? Got the shits or something?"
Quickly shaking her head, Li Yan used both her hands to close Big Brother's mouth. Then, with mildly teary eyes, she said, "Not the shits... Something else..."
"Ho? What is it then? If you're looking for breastmilk, I'm sorry to tell ya this, but I cannot be a provider-"
.......