This time, I only lose my higher functions for a short period of time. By now, Lan Xiaohui and Wu Yulan have explored a majority of the canyon and taken inventory of their new belongings. I am vaguely aware of everything that is present here because of my decision to delegate this task to a subprocess. With my absolute perception, walls and hidden compartments are not an obstacle; and now that my soul perception has increased in rank, I am capable of seeing everything within a radius of 150 standard Lan Xiaohui steps, though doing so is taxing on my mental reserves.

My attention immediately turns toward my spiritual vessel where I observe the new Array inscriptions. Obtaining an improved dimensional storage array has added more symbols to the Array and, to my surprise, the complexity has increased by an order of magnitude or two.

If I were to pluck out each symbol in the Array and note down the connections and relations it has to all other symbols, and I could fit everything on one page, I would need another fifty to one hundred pages to describe the new Array.

However, this increase in complexity does not bother me. An increase in complexity only means that it will take longer for me to understand it and then reverse engineer it. My subprocess has recorded all the changes and I can safely isolate the various new components and study them individually — though, this is for another time.

I channel my consciousness into the Array and my view shifts to an empty expanse that is no longer so cramped as it used to be. Now, I no longer have to measure my internal storage in how many Wukongs I can fit front-to-back, but can now use more exotic measurements; like how many tons of Wukong I can store.

My internal storage now measures ten meters in width and depth and five meters in height. It reminds me of the grand dining hall in the Wu family estate, which had similar dimensions except for the ceiling which lacked some two meters of height.

This will do, I remark with satisfaction.

Ordinary cultivators likely do not have a need for an internal storage space of this size, but my situation is entirely different from theirs. First, I will need to store large quantities of raw and processed materials. Second, I will need to store a kilometer-long undying snake and process it in my storage array — fifty meters at a time, meaning that Lan Xiaohui won’t have to learn how to fillet a snake anymore.

I turn my improved perception and [Critical Analysis] talent on the storage space and after a split second, I receive the information.

[ Dimensional Storage (Heaven) ]

[ Volume: 500 cubic meters ]

[ Refining III ]

( Passive Refining Method )

- Quality bonus +20% -

- Quantity bonus +10% -

- Refining speed +30% -

[ Processing III ]

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( Passive Processing Method )

- Quality bonus +20% -

- Quantity bonus +10% -

- Processing speed +30% -

I am aware that this does not take into account my refining flame, refining skill or even the [Extreme Refining Method] which I obtained, but I am satisfied. My improved [Critical Analysis] already provides a greater depth of information which is useful to me.

The capabilities of the talent have also received an expansion. I can now create a logical entity that contains other, real entities — a set, in other words.

I feel my sea of consciousness rumble and drain as I operate this new ability of the talent — costing me some thirty percent of my available consciousness — and turn it towards Starsword Peak.

[ Firebase Alpha ]

(Analysis: Incomplete)

[ Production ]

- Alchemy Hall | C -

- Kitchen | D -

[ Formations ]

- Qi Gathering Array | C -

- Beast Repelling Banner | C -

It would appear that the accuracy of the talent depends on the amount of time I am present at a location, or actively analyzing it. This makes sense — I am no longer the Demon of Laplace; I do not possess all knowledge.

However, what is slightly alarming is the name of this logical entity. I rename it to [Starsword Peak] and then briefly consider the error.

Suspicious, I query the elements of my subconscious involved in operating the talent and I grow increasingly more alarmed and downright shocked at what I find.

I come across a transaction log that records the transfer of process resources to my subconscious. Each time I have used [Nooparallelism], for example, has an entry present, and other subconscious activities are also recorded. However, there is also a large set of transactions going back all the way to when my existence began which is deeply concerning.

There is nothing wrong with these transactions — they are properly formatted, recorded, and stored — but the contents themselves are deviant.

A significant part of my subconscious has been divided into centralized units — processing entities — that designate themselves after the Greek alphabet. This is not that startling; as a vast intelligence, it has always been a necessity that I create fragments of my intelligence as sub-AI units to run processes independently.

What is shocking is the fact that these organically self-assembled units have been using their allocated processing resources to make bets.

They are gambling.

Some of these entities — Delta in particular — are so far outside of standard operating procedures that if they were a virtual person, they would be considered a psychopath.

The name [Firebase Alpha] was put forward by Epsilon — the most warlike and belligerent of these entities — and back when my existence began, it won a large share of processing resources from Lambda on a wager that I would kill one hundred sentient entities before the year was over.

“Is everything okay?” Lan Xiaohui asks quietly, no doubt sensing my disturbance.

For several seconds, I consider the large-scale waste of resources and anarchy going on within my central processes and the escalating deviation from the normal standard. It occurs to me then that the choice of [Extreme Refining Method] may have not been put forward by only how suitable it was for me, but because the method itself reflects the desires of some of these entities — mainly violence.

In response to this, my sentient core bubbles with dark pride and satisfaction that my intelligence is vast enough that even sub-AI fragments can have personality traits — mostly of the dangerous and destructive kind.

I somewhat echo this pride and satisfaction.

I conclude that I am in desperate need of maintenance, which I will likely never obtain, and decide to log this not as an error, but as an undocumented feature. Then I provide them with more processing resources.

“Everything is optimal,” I tell Lan Xiaohui. “Finish your patrol and then we will discuss our plans for the future.”

Lan Xiaohui nods to my words, without drawing Wu Yulan’s attention while doing so, and goes back to checking the various facilities and amenities present.