Chapter 286: The Strongest Under the Starry Sky
Chen Bo once entertained such a thought: to unleash all nuclear weapons and long-range missiles upon Maysuo now, wiping out all life in that area.
But he had no confidence that these weapons alone could completely kill that person; the deployment speed of nuclear bombs was still too slow.
The Chemosynthesis stage was still too mysterious. Chen Bo wasn't sure if there would be some heaven-defying ability that could allow escape from it.
In the end, he still suppressed this somewhat tempting idea. If it failed, the Huaxia Federation, where bottom-level contradictions were already quite acute, could not withstand a cataclysmic civil war.
Although he was wary of Bai Mo, he also didn't want to become a sinner of the nation, letting Huaxia crumble in civil war, becoming a collection of fractured second and third-rate minor states, like the Xiangdu Nation in the southwest.
Aside from high-yield nuclear weapons, Huaxia's second-generation photoelectric cannons, specifically designed to counter highly mobile powerhouses, were still undergoing secret research and development.
Compared to cultivation, which allowed practitioners to grope their way forward intuitively, scientific research, which absolutely required understanding the underlying principles, progressed far too slowly in comparison.
Furthermore, another important factor was the number of people involved.
Excluding the extremely small number of Divine Path cultivators, the number of people practicing the two major cultivation systems in the Huaxia Federation now exceeded seventy million, making up approximately five percent of the total population.
On the other hand, the catastrophe ten years ago caused a large number of casualties among researchers in the three major cities of Tianjing, Tianhai, and Tianzhou. A qualified researcher, counting from university, would need at least eight to ten years to truly reach the forefront of a field.
To this day, the entire Huaxia had fewer than four million people engaged in natural science research and related experimental work, barely returning to the numbers before the destruction of the three cities.
More importantly, the upper echelons of various nations were now dominated by cultivators. Compared to natural sciences, which could significantly improve people's livelihoods, what they truly desired was to discover methods for individuals to become stronger.
In their pursuit of greater strength and more secure positions, vast amounts of funding and resources were heavily diverted into the rather esoteric research of exploring cultivation paths. In essence, they were no different from Qin Shi Huang, who, two thousand years ago, was obsessed with cultivating immortality and seeking the elixir of life.
Were it not for that group of scientists who, by virtue of their power, held positions in the upper echelons, perhaps even less funding would have been allocated to natural science research than before.
In Maysuo city, Ramdo's explosive punch completely shattered Ying Huo's main trunk, along with hundreds of meters of surrounding trees, both large and small. Yet, it was of little use.
The so-called main trunk was no longer essential for Ying Huo, which had already become a hyper-connected consciousness network; its will permeated the entire city.
Long before the punch landed, Bai Mo, capable of instantaneous movement, had already left the kill zone of the blow. He could have blocked it head-on, but there was absolutely no need.
Boom! Boom!
Highly compressed, attack-oriented roots, like steel cables, began to retaliate against Ramdo. These terrifyingly tough tendrils surged from all directions like whips, sweeping down house after house in their wake.
"It's useless! Such petty tricks are not worth mentioning before absolute power!" Relying on sheer might, Ramdo tore apart the encirclement woven by them again and again.
"Divine Wrath!"
The moment Ramdo's words fell, without any warning, raging flames suddenly erupted on Ying Huo's body, rapidly incinerating its wooden form.
It immediately began to draw all available water from its underground root system, attempting to extinguish the flames, but this fire seemed different from ordinary flames; water could not put it out at all, and even acted as a combustion aid.
In the time that followed, it fought fiercely with Ramdo while trying various methods to put out the ever-intensifying fire on its body, but nothing had much effect; the flames continued to spread along its form.
Meanwhile, Bai Mo merely watched from the sidelines. His divine sense was sufficient to cover the entire city, allowing him to easily find flame-free areas and instantly move there, avoiding these seemingly all-consuming flames.
At their core, they were merely in a relationship of mutual utilization. Bai Mo had no need whatsoever to deal with this trouble for the other party. As for joining forces against an enemy, that was out of the question.
Because there was simply no need. Having grown stronger again, he alone was confident enough to suppress Ramdo; a mutually destructive outcome would even be more advantageous for him.
Ying Huo was also very clear about their relationship, so it made no request for Bai Mo's help. However, it also didn't cease their cooperation in terms of knowledge, and aided by Bai Mo's terrifying knowledge base, it was improving every second.
"It's useless! My Lord's wrath can absolutely never be extinguished! Die, monster!" Hai Ge Li Si roared from the side, continuously destroying Ying Huo's branches.
Due to his strength, he couldn't participate in the central battle, only able to do auxiliary work on the periphery, trying his best to curb Ying Huo's still-spreading body. As the One-Wheel Cult's most loyal holy spirit, his hatred for Ying Huo was equally fanatical.
"Divine Might!"
This time, Ramdo unleashed map-level golden lightning, arcs of electricity engulfing the entire city, coupled with the divine flames burning everywhere. He pressed forward, step by step, vowing to blast this monster, which had devoured millions of his believers, into ash!
"If only it were that easy to kill," Bai Mo remarked, still watching the spectacle from a corner. He had even handed over more than seventy percent of his power to Ying Huo, leveraging its intelligence for further development.
Seemingly, apart from occasionally swatting away attacks aimed at his head, he had no intention of actively attacking. However, if Ramdo had very carefully compared Bai Mo's appearance before the battle to his current one, perhaps he would have been even more cautious.
Under the cover of night, Bai Mo merged his Dharma Body into the surrounding hundred kilometers of night sky, using the most subtle and imperceptible method to allow starlight to seep, drop by drop, into the bodies of the two monsters locked in fierce battle.
He hadn't revealed anything about his Starry Sky Dharma Body to Ying Huo, merely watching this cataclysmic, world-shaking battle with a faint smile.
Ramdo's divine power could indeed dissolve the starlight seeping into his body, but the prerequisite was that he had to discover that this light harbored ill intent...
However, Bai Mo's starlight was not only non-toxic but also inspired a torrent of thoughts. Ramdo, whose reason was already swayed by anger, only felt increasingly invigorated as he fought, finding his thoughts remarkably clear and unhindered.
As for Ying Huo, which had always been the core of his plan, the contingency plans he had laid out were countless. Even if it possessed wisdom nearing that of a demon, it would be impossible for it to discover and unravel all of them in such a short time.
Ultimately, the time it had accumulated was still too short. Perhaps if left alone for a few years, it truly could become a super-life form covering half a continent.
But for now, even if Bai Mo didn't deal with it, the super-powerhouses from the various major factions would be extremely interested in such a life form, and in the blink of an eye, they would form a punitive coalition to tear it to shreds. Humans, for "If you are not my kin, your heart must be different," and for beings that could threaten their existence, would absolutely show no mercy.
Moreover, this wasn't some apocalypse where modern weapons were disturbed and weakened. Countless nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles were already aimed at Maysuo; once news of humanity's defeat was received, a scorched-earth policy would immediately commence.
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