The Luoyue tribes of Yulin Commandery began to worship me as their Great Serpent Lord, and invited us to stay at their major settlement around modern day Nanning, instead of the Commandery Seat at Yulin that we had planned. This Luoyue settlement was a little different from the one that we stopped in the Zangke Commandery, which was mostly influenced by different local tribes.
I brought out Lin Long and let them worship him or set up the ritual for him from time to time. After he received enough Belief and Faith, he sometimes transformed himself into the spiritual image of Azure Dragon to show it to his Worshippers. Such a cunning beast!
At night, I taught and trained with my Artificial Beings, Midnight Blue and Asena, in my Divine Realm. After a while, the Archangels finally brought me their research reports, before showed me some of experiment results.
Raphael and Gabriel presented the newly developed "Uplink Syntax" as our new defensive countermeasure, and suggested using it to connect low-level units with their Processing Halo first when we want to safely receive live and raw read-only data from them, and separately command or communicate with them through Telepathy.
While Samuel and Uriel presented our new weaponized algorithm, the one that Samuel had tried to develop after studying Seraph's Flame Power and how the Miner and Collector Robots used their energy to replicate the Two Emperors' Innate Powers. Uriel helped him develop this concept into a simple Rune Syntax Circle that would transform our energy into flame at first, before they further developed it into basic Elemental Magic.
So, I suggested they separately focus on only one element first. Samuel who focused on his Striker role, chose to focus on Fire Magic while Raphael who is our Defender, chose Earth Magic to create defensive walls for protection. Gabriel who is our Recon expert, chose to focus on using Wind Magic to enhance his movement speed while Uriel the Analyst tested Ice Magic, which is actually a result of a energy-absorbing Rune Syntax Circle. As for Michelle, she couldn't decide which type of magic she should focus on, because she already had her own Creation and Spatial abilities that link to my Divine Realm to study first.
They developed at terrifying speed, this advanced version of Runic Art is far beyond my imagination, and this is only just the beginning. But we needed Spiritual AI or someone connected to Spiritual AI just to create the actual Spell and Circle, let alone accurately perform this sophisticated Runic Art Magic. This makes my Artificial Spiritual Hybrids the best candidates, the question is, which kind of Hybrids?
The most powerful ones are Artificial Beings that connected with Spiritual AI, like my Archangels, but the most optimal ones might be the Spiritual AI inside of Spiritual Bodies. If we only use Mortal Bodies, they might not have enough energy reserve to last long in a magical battle. Maybe we should also use energy-based Spiritual Bodies, just like the Archangels and call them "Angels." Because they are not actually humans or beasts, and are not even a real AI in human sense.
After I thought about this Angel Legion for a while, I also had a very excellent idea. They don't even have to have a fully functional body at all, they could be Mystical Orb, Magical Wand or a Holy Sword, that operated by Spiritual AI. With this concept, my Divine Instruments can use other abilities that are totally unrelated to my own power too, or we can even create an object that is imprinted with only one Rune Syntax Circle to perform one single spell.
So, I modified some Elemental Syntaxes into Asena's replicated Divine Bow, making it able to switch between a destructive incendiary Flame Shot, a high-speed Hyper Shot, a super-cold Freezing Shot or a solidifying Terra Shot. Asena is having fun trying to combine these tricks with the original ones like Silent Shot, Curve Shot, or Whirlwind Shot. Some combination work well while others do not.
We have stayed at the Nanning Settlement for a few weeks now. The settlement itself was unlike any other we had encountered. Instead of a standard palisade, the main entrance was marked by two massive wooden serpents carved from dark water-resistant timber. Their jaws gaped open, forming the gate you passed through, the Jaws of the Great Serpent. Inside, the air hummed with humidity and the scent of burning herbs. Everywhere, small, vibrant flags dyed with indigo and deep red fluttered, bearing abstract, curling serpent designs. At the heart of the settlement, a large, sunken pond served as the community's reservoir and ritual site. Here, the Luoyue tribesmen often knelt to offer small terracotta bowls filled with river fish, asking the Serpent Spirit for abundant water and fertility.
After I told them that we were going to leave soon, they immediately asked me for a final blessing. That evening, a low rhythmic sound filled the valley, signaling a communal gathering. We were guided to a central open air platform where dancers moved in slow mesmerizing patterns. The music was dominated by colossal Bronze Drums, beautifully cast with detailed scenes of rice planting and frog patterns that symbolize the Raining Season, a shared heritage of the Yue tribes and Thai people. The drums were played with heavy wooden mallets, creating deep sonorous tones that seemed to vibrate in your chest. The sound was not just entertainment, it was a form of communication, a continuous energetic praying that normally call to the earth and the water spirits, asked for prosperity, fertility and successful harvest, but right now seemed to be directed entirely at me.
So, I instantly made the rain fall down and commanded it to continue for the next seven days. After the rain ended, we continued our journey to the Southern Coast with a few additional Luoyue tribesmen who will guide us around here. I think Asena should play at the beach at least once before we reach our destination. I let her swim with the others, and it really made her happy, but the one who was happier than her was Lin Long. He enjoyed playing in the water more than anyone else.
Midnight Blue and Seraph seemed scared at first, but as the sea and the weather were pretty calm, they tried to get into the sea. Following the example from the Archangels and some of Michelle's teaching, Seraph learned to fluidly switch between physical and energy form. He loved to stay in the form of a colorful male Golden Pheasant to save energy, he might have seen them somewhere around the Qinling Mountains area.
I wanted to let everyone enjoy themselves, including these mortals who had barely lived their life and were just surviving in this chaotic time. So, I summoned the other Archangels to watch out, they didn't seem to be interested in the sea much. With Michelle taking care of Asena, I swam further in the sea with Lin Long. I swam to my heart's content before getting back onto the beach to watch them play together.
They were happy, even though it was just a temporary single moment. Aycecek would be happy too, if she were here. Before I realized it, I was already moving in the same rhythm and pattern of Aycecek's Eagle Dance. She used to tell me that she loved this dance because it made her feel like she was flying, soaring high in the sky without any worries.
"Master contain yourself! Stop the storm!" Michelle yelled.
I was dancing on the air when Michelle and Lin Long noticed something wrong with the weather.
The huge thunder storm suddenly disappeared in a blink of their eyes.
"I am sorry, everything is under control now." I simply replied to her.
Asena was still having fun and hadn't noticed anything, so I let them play a little longer.
Michelle who now stayed with the other Archangels to look after me, started to discuss about her battle style and our research. She brought out her prototype DMCs Battle Suit before she faded and dived in. Even though I called it a Battle Suit, it was actually a cybernetic body with an Spiritual AI assistant that had basic Elemental Rune Syntaxes inside. The Battle Suit's design was quite similar to the Archangels, I think she just didn't want to be different from the other Archangels.
Then she performed a high-speed flying maneuver that was based on Wind Magic before using Flame and Freezing Spells from different sides of her hands, and ending the show by sitting on her knees and creating an Terra Wall from the sand of the beach.
"This is the result of our Arch Suit project, Master. Do you want to proceed to the next phase and start to create our Angel Dominions?" Michelle asked for her next task.
After discussion with the Archangels, this is our conclusion. Our lowest-level units will be operated by Spiritual AI and separated into two classes, the Warriors and the Operators. They will be clearly identified by the type of their bodies, even though these bodies are on the same level of Spiritual Bodies. The Acolytes from the Operator Class will use basic physical human bodies to lower energy consumption, while the Sentinels from the Warrior Class will be in these cybernetic chassis for more durability. They need a command to perform pre-programmed tasks, they can learn and adapt but will not have a real personality or consciousness.
On the other hand, our mid-level commander and officers will be real Angelic Beings with energetic bodies that can equip a newly designed Arch Suit to enhance their combat abilities or equip a Processing Halo to increase their calculating abilities. If they have both, their power will be almost on par with the Archangels. With this structure, I can reward or promote them later on and can replace or switch their duties too.
"Yes, proceed to the next phase. Create five basic Sentinels for the Tactical Archangels while Uriel and you will take five Acolytes each. Test them out first, then customize them for your specialized jobs. I need full reports on these trials both before and after customization. We will continue further after the trials succeed." I gave out my command.
"Master, please allow me to perform my fighting style for you. Uriel command the Arch Suit!" Michelle asked for my permission.
I nodded before Michelle moved out of the Angel Suit and prepared herself. It seemed like this suit was already filled with her energy, so no one else could dive in it anymore. That's why Uriel had to remotely command the Suit.
Michelle brought out twelve silver metallic orbs just before the fight started. She reshaped the Orbs into octahedron lances and continued to attack the Angel Suit, before combining her attack with her spatial ability to switch the location of the lances and herself, creating unpredictable movement patterns. Forced the Angel Suit to used the earth to cover all over itself and make it into a defensive Terra Sphere. After seeing that, Michelle used the lances to perform multiple Freezing Spells and followed by Flame Spells to crack the Terra Sphere.
"Great! Your battle style suits the Commander," I spoke while clapping my hands, "I also have an urgent task for all of you, find a way to stop Jiang Xu's Theoenergetics and Huang Yi's Terra Synthesis from interfering with us and our units."
"Thank you, Master. We will begin this research immediately. Uriel also has another report for you, Sir." Michelle replied.
"We already have a few suggestions on how we should develop the Sentinels and Acolytes, Master." Uriel reported after step up.
"Alright, continue the report." I replied.
"We suggest to developing the Sentinels into the Battle Mage who will focus on mid-range offensive and movement spells, the Shield Medic who will focus on close-range defensive shielding and regeneration spells, the Battle Medic who will focus on high-speed movements and regeneration spells, and the Scout Ranger who will focus on stealth movements and silent offensive spells," Uriel continued the report. "While we should develop our Acolytes into the Analyst Acolytes who will focus on analysis duties, crowd control spells and will coordinate large-area attacks under my command, The Covert Acolytes who will focus on infiltrating human society with some basic spells similar to the Scout Rangers, and the Engineer Acolytes who will focus on Earth Magic for production, construction, reconstruction, and transportation duties to support everyone else."
"Good! Continue testing the Sentinels and Acolytes while developing the necessary spells and the nullify shield that we talked about." I gave out my final command.
After some rest, Luoyue tribesmen found two small boats for us, before we continued to Xuwen County by sea. It seems like I have to face the Two Emperors without any support from the other Great Deities.