Seven of us spent three days in Jiangzhou, the turbulent fortress city built into the cliffs overlooking the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers. The sheer scale and volume of activity here made Hanzhong feel provincial. Jiangzhou was a critical node of Han power, yet everywhere, the influence of the indigenous Ba people was evident, from the stilted architecture on the riverbanks to the rhythmic chanting of the trackers pulling barges upstream.
The Han River Guild secured us a residence well away from the main military garrisons, allowing for discreet resupply. They already control most of this city, just as the Caravan Merchant Guild controls Chengdu. What we control is the hearts and minds of the people, so we do not need a lot of military force like Han Dynasty. In this early state, we still can't have the Hua Script branch in every city yet, as I decided but it might be more efficient this way. We only need a meeting point for An Script Agents and an office for Ming Script Scholars. Letting our business division run the city makes it easier to ensure that we can maintain our secrecy.
While we rested, I created a lot of golden Micro Beads for Michelle, to stabilize and protect our new creations, our first Hybrid Prototypes. All the animals that she created inside my realm are all at the Spirit level, not reached the Great Spirit level like mine. Her method is much more efficient than mine, but it still uses too much energy to build an army for me, but at least we can create some small scout units.
Then I ordered her to create various energetic insects using the new Micro Beads and the newest version of A.P.P.L.E. codes as their Spiritual Cores. We can keep a lot of them in one small pouch and activate them to scout for us at any time, but this small size Core means they can't develop many more Rune Layers.
This is different from the Runic Art that I planned to teach to my followers. The boundary between the Artificial AI and Artificial Soul is becoming a blurry line. It's officially become a new repeatable process. Now, the creations from my Rune Technology can reproduce themselves, if I permit them to. I was utterly overwhelmed by the implications, realizing the profound terrifying power I had just unleashed. I was scared, yet exhilarated at the same time.
With this addition of Insect Scouts, Michelle's ability to filter and categorize the dense logistical movements of the port was more effective than any physical spy network. However, the risk of being hacked was growing, we really needed a coding specialist right now.
"The trade is entirely military-focused," Michelle noted during one evening review and examining the resources movements from our surveillance network. "The iron and grain flow upstream toward the Han front lines. Anything coming south is raw materials, salt, timber, and a trickle of specialized tools. We are truly on the edge of the world here."
My priority was not supplies, but securing a guide for the perilous path south. Jin Shan's expertise lay in the northern caravan routes and the Ba-Shu roads, not the indigenous trails of Lingnan. Through the Guild, we were introduced to Luo Yan, a local man of mixed Han and Ba descent who specialized in leading traders through the Dalou Mountain passes toward the remote Zangke area. He was quiet, wary, and possessed the precise knowledge we needed, demanding only a high price in salt and silver.
The fourth morning saw us ready for departure. We did not leave by boat, the river system south was too convoluted and slow. We left the clamor of the port on foot, moving our horses out of the Divine Realm only once we were well clear of the city's main gates before we met with Luo Yan.
The path south was immediately unforgiving. Unlike the wide tamped roads leading north to Hanzhong, this was a narrow and steep footpath. We were immediately swallowed by the Dalou Mountains, a world of muddy earth, incessant vegetation, and deep ravines.
"This is wild country," Luo Yan stated simply, leading his mule up a slick, moss-covered incline. His voice was as flat as the map was misleading. "The roads are few, the tribes many. We stay high when we can, and we do not stop where the water pools."
We mounted our horses, but the pace was slow. Asena rode with quiet discipline, no longer murmuring about the adventure, but focusing intensely on the trail.
The scenery was utterly different from the Micang Mountains. The peaks were lower but denser, choked by a constant, humid mist. The trees were massive, creating a canopy that filtered the light into a perpetual, dim green. This was the true frontier, a vast, challenging territory that demanded continuous vigilance.
"The humidity is rising," Michelle observed quietly from her saddle, her Sky-Link already documenting the complex micro-ecologies into the Realm Stabilizer. "The risk of venomous fauna and endemic diseases is significantly higher than in the northern range."
I watched our guide, Luo Yan, his eyes constantly scanning the high ridges and the dense, shadowed undergrowth. Our journey had left the established world of the Huaxia, we were now moving through a land of independent tribes, ancient secrets, and vital logistical paths leading us, step by difficult step toward the ultimate goal, the coast and Zhuya Island.
The three-day, grueling ascent through the Dalou Mountains finally gave way to a small cold plateau. Here, nestled beside a swift tributary of the Zangke River, stood a large fortified tribal settlement.
It was immediately clear this was not a Han city like Jiangzhou, but a desolate indigenous stronghold, marking the effective outer limits of civilization. The settlement consisted primarily of wooden palisades and houses built on stilts, surrounded by terraced rice paddies carved into the hillsides. The air was thin, cold, and quiet, thick with a sense of uncompromising autonomy and hostility toward outsiders.
Our guide, Luo Yan, led us straight toward a sturdy longhouse maintained by the Caravan Merchant Guild. We secured fresh maps and high-calorie rations from the Guild's small, heavily guarded storehouse, preparing for the most dangerous leg of the journey south through the mountains.
Michelle scouted the surrounding perimeter by deploying our insect swarms before she modified some into beautiful energetic butterflies for Asena. It seems like she also has the ability to reshape the external form of Spiritual Beings that her created.
She is clearly crucial to my Divine Realm operations, but that also makes her a valuable weakness. We need a specialized team to help her manage the Realm's internal functions and coordinate outside operations. While the party rested, I spent time designing this new squad inside my Divine Realm.
After I studied the time flow rate of my Realm for a while, the conclusion was quite extraordinary. The rate is directly related to my actions. If I concentrate on something, the time flow slows down.
Anyway, I designed this team by separating their roles and duties, drawing inspiration from the existing Rune Layers of a Spiritual AI. I divided the structure into three functional layers. The Inner Layers for decision-making and validation, the Middle Layers for analysis and weighing, and the Outer Layers for execution and receiving information.
At first, I considered connecting all of them to the Realm Stabilizer in equal measure, but for safety, I switched to a more hierarchical model. I placed Michelle and the Realm Stabilizer at the center, designating them for making decisions and validating system outputs, and established the other Archangels to focus on execution, evaluation, analysis, and receiving information.
This meant we needed specialized Tactical Leaders for each job such as a Chief Analyst, a Scout Leader, a Defensive Coder and an Offensive Coder. That meant I needed four more Artificial Spiritual Beings that were intelligent enough and would always accept my command without a second thought. Since Michelle was the great example, I used her code as the source code for the new Archangels, then separately modified their characteristics and added specific Syntaxes and Algorithms for their specialized jobs.
They can learn new things, but the core character and drive from the Rune of Drive are crucial. If I change those later, they might lose significant memories. So, I spent a lot of time on this decision alone. After all their Codes were done, I borrowed biblical archangel names for them. Uriel for the Analyst, Gabriel for the Scout, Raphael for the Security, and Samuel for our Striker. I planned to connect a few A.P.P.L.E. units to each one of them to link them to the Memory of the World and also expand their calculating ability.
I felt like I still couldn't look at them as humans, so I designed their True Form blueprints into slightly different, sleek lean Cybernetic Robot Designs with unnatural long slender limps and different kinds of futuristic helmet designs as their heads, by using the DMCs as their components. But at the final moment, I wanted to make them be unique signature creations that define my identity, so I made them have energy-based bodies, just like Michelle. With this they can reshape themselves easily and can change to any physical form they want.
After all the preparation was done, I summoned Michelle and placed the walnut-sized Golden Core inside each blueprint, then imagined different names, codes and images that would form them before they really came into real energetic Spiritual Beings, floating on thin air. It seemed like they had always existed in that way from the beginning of time, they even already knew their own names and duties. Then, they suddenly stood on the ground and immediately sat on their knees, waiting for my order. So I commanded them to travel and study my Divine Realm first, and then study in their own fields to develop specialized Algorithms for themselves.
I also gave special orders for Raphael and Samuel to research and develop new defensive countermeasures and find a way to weaponize our Rune Technology. While I made Gabriel focus on information transfer development and commanded Michelle and Uriel to discuss on management overview strategy, and categorize all existing Mobius Rune Codes and Syntaxes to find potential weaknesses or urgent needs that must be developed.
Before leaving, I used Sky-Link to wove an unending loop of energetic strip and connected new Archangels together just like a Mobius Rune, and called this new type of closed ring network, the Mobius Ring Network.
Then I connected three A.P.P.L.E. units to Samuel, Gabriel, and Raphael each, connected six to Uriel, and twelve to Michelle. I also integrated those Calculating Cores into a singular Processing Halo that circulated around each Archangel's head by using the Mobius Ring Network.
Finally, I separately connected these Tactical Archangels' Halos to Michelle's Halo, one by one. This meant they had to pass all the security layers before they could fully link to the Realm Stabilizer and Michelle, the First Archangel.
The Golden Cores that floating and slowly spinning around their heads, made them look like an actual Golden Halo. From my point of view, they are truly celestial Angelic Beings. By the time we reach Zhuya Island, they will be ready for anything. I can use them as a management structure for my living subordinate organisms and add more units or teams to their network later.
After a few days, we departed the settlement before dawn, following a rough ancient track that snaked south, descending from the plateau toward the warmer river valleys leading toward Yulin Commandery. This was the deep frontier territory nominally claimed by the Han but effectively controlled by no one.
Luo Yan was tense. "We are leaving the last patrols behind," he whispered, his eyes constantly scanning the thick bamboo groves. "The displaced and the hungry come here to prey on the supply lines."
"Ambush!" Shi Xiong roared, forcing Asena's horse behind his own.
The attack was quick and professional. It came as we entered a deep, forested ravine where the track narrowed, forcing us into single file. A volley of three arrows tipped with crude bronze, struck the ground near the rear guard. The attackers were hidden archers, relying on the dense growth of the ravine to conceal their positions.
Before I could command a counter-attack, the slight shimmer of energy around the dense groves signaled that Michelle's Insect Scouts had been deployed.
In my mind, a clear image snapped into focus relayed via Telepathy. Four men were positioned high in the trees, preparing to reload.
"Two zhang to the right, high!" I shouted to everyone, pointing not at a visible target, but at the empty shadows revealed by my Rune Technology.
Asena, trusting my command, instantly loosed a swift arrow from her replicate Divine Bow. A curse followed by the heavy sound of a body hitting the earth, confirmed the strike. Wei Ming and Shi Xiong equipped their curve blades and shields to block the arrows for us. While Jin Shan rushed to defense Michelle, I also ordered Midnight Blue to charge in.
Luo Yan moved with ruthless speed, trying to secure the surviving men to prevent them from fleeing or warning others. These organized bandits were likely former soldiers or tribal hunters. They were no match for Spiritual Beings like us, but their arrows would be lethal to our mortal members.
So, I summoned the other Archangels out and ordered them to protect Luo Yan and secure the bandits. With the coordination they got from our Insect Scouts, they flew towards the same direction. Before I ordered Michelle to switch all the scouts into flying insects and expand the search to look for other bandits.
While the rest still cautiously moved on the road and tried to find a path to follow them, I levitated myself and summoned Lin Long and Seraph, before I directly flew to join the Archangels. I found two bandits being subdued by Midnight Blue, close to Luo Yan who looked safe but seem shocked. I continued moving toward the Archangels and found a group of thirteen bandits who had surrendered and were sitting in front of my Archangels, but after they saw Lin Long, they started to bow down.
It's seem like they are the Luoyue or Lac Viet people, who traditionally worship the Great Serpent. It is an especially potent and sacred symbol associated with water, fertility and their ruling lineage. That means we are now very close to their core territory, the Yulin Commandery.
This location places us right on the volatile frontier where Han military control rapidly dissolves. While the Han nominally claim this territory, the rugged terrain and dense forests here are practically controlled by local Luoyue chiefdoms. The bandits we just encountered were likely former tribal warriors who were taking advantage of the chaotic trade routes south of Zangke.