The two of them had talked for a long time, and during their conversation, Black Abyss had unknowingly exhausted all the spiritual power Lin Zhile had given her.
Though Lin Zhile later replenished her spiritual power, Black Abyss became afraid of exhausting her supply again and being left without any spiritual power.
So, no matter who came, she simply refused to respond to them.
Although Black Abyss could sense the overwhelming power coming from Yu Weiwei, which was, in fact, a hundred times stronger than Lin Zhile's, she had no intention of wasting even the slightest bit of her spiritual power.
Therefore, she simply ignored whoever came.
Besides, she could sense that Yu Weiwei harboured no hostility toward her, so she didn't even bother paying attention to him.
Yu Weiwei pursed his lips when he saw that he was being ignored, but he didn't bother calling out to her again.
Instead, he released his spiritual power and carefully checked Black Abyss.
After examining her condition, he estimated that it would take a total of two hundred years before she could be considered a true living being without any restrictions.
Yu Weiwei took out a portion of the spiritual vein he had obtained when he met Lin Zhile and attached it to Black Abyss.
Mingming, who had still been ignoring Yu Weiwei, suddenly sensed the dense amount of spiritual power.
Her eyes seemed to brighten as she excitedly began absorbing and utilizing it.
However, halfway through, she suddenly stopped.
Her master had always told her to be a polite girl.
Besides, she couldn't just accept something given to her, even if it was extremely beneficial to her.
"Why are you giving me this?" Mingming asked politely, although the excitement was still evident in her voice.
"I'm Yu Weiwei, Lin Zhile's father and Xiao Baobao's friend. Just consider it an apology."
Yu Weiwei said this while pointing toward the damage Yu Ziyou had caused.
In truth, Yu Weiwei could have given her something entirely different.
After all, even in the cultivation world, Black Abyss's entire body wasn't worth as much as that single piece of spiritual vein.
He had mainly given it to her out of curiosity.
"Oh, then thank you."
Mingming answered happily.
With this gift, her damaged arm didn't really matter anymore. This spiritual vein was more than enough to compensate for the damage.
Besides, with this spiritual vein, she would be able to gain her freedom much sooner and wouldn't have to worry about losing consciousness again.
Yu Weiwei smiled, but then he suddenly realized something he had overlooked.
How was a mecha AI able to cultivate spiritual Qi?!
"How were you able to cultivate spiritual Qi?"
"Oh, that... well..."
Mingming was startled when she heard Yu Weiwei's question, and her eyes shifted guiltily to the side.
Back when Xiao Baobao had asked her the same question, she had lied.
She knew perfectly well why she had been able to regain consciousness.
But her master had ordered her not to tell anyone.
So she had lied.
However, since Yu Weiwei had given her a spiritual vein, she felt that she could tell him at least part of the truth.
"Master gave me a cultivation scroll he took out of a stone. He said it belonged to Black Abyss's eyes before Black Abyss was created, so he asked me to record it and store it. Then, when my power supply became too low and I knew I might be shut down forever, I tried cultivating it. Unexpectedly, I actually succeeded."
Yu Weiwei's gaze fell onto the red crown embedded in Black Abyss's head.
Black Abyss was entirely black, its dark metallic body giving it an imposing appearance. On its forehead was a leaf-like crown, adding a strange yet awe-inspiring touch to its appearance.
Yu Weiwei looked at it carefully before realizing that the so-called red crown was actually a piece of red jade.
The jade probably had a naturally formed space inside it, and the cultivation scroll had been hidden within that space.
While Yu Weiwei was thinking about this, he suddenly realized something else.
Mingming was an AI herself, essentially a collection of data.
Even if she wanted to become a true living being, she would have to continue operating indefinitely, just like the Three AI Guardians.
So how had she been able to cultivate when her main body was technically dead?
"Black Abyss itself is alive, isn't it?"
Yu Weiwei asked, staring directly into Black Abyss's eyes.
Mingming was stunned when she heard this.
How was this human so smart?
That's right.
Black Abyss itself was the one that had gained consciousness, and this consciousness was what allowed her to start operating.
From there, she gradually formed her own soul and began cultivating.
To be honest, Black Abyss had only been able to come alive mainly because her master had embedded the red jade into its body.
The Aethersteel used to create Black Abyss had existed for thousands of years and had continuously absorbed energy from the earth, as well as spiritual Qi.
Over the countless years, the energy contained within the Aethersteel had reached an astonishing level.
"Hello."
A childish male voice, sounding roughly like that of a ten-year-old boy, suddenly came from Black Abyss.
"Ahhh~ It feels so good to finally talk. Mingming wouldn't let me. She said it was too dangerous. It's really boring only talking to Mingming all the time..."
The childish voice immediately began rattling on as though a dam had suddenly broken.
Yu Weiwei was slightly stunned that his guess had been correct.
However, the bubbling voice made him instinctively want to cover his ears.
This guy talked way too much!
"Xiaohei! Did I ask you to talk?!"
Mingming's voice bellowed, making it extremely obvious just how angry she was.
Yu Weiwei stood there looking slightly awkward.
There were now two voices coming from the same mecha, and the two voices were seemingly arguing with each other.
It felt... rather strange.
Yu Weiwei could understand why Mingming had kept Black Abyss a secret.
It wouldn't be particularly strange for an AI to speak even without an external power supply, but a mecha itself talking was certainly strange, especially when it was clearly not supposed to be capable of doing so.
Seeing the two of them argue, Yu Weiwei decided to check the red jade to see whether the space inside was still there.
Even if the space was still intact, however, the two of them wouldn't be able to use it.
Their souls and spiritual Qi were far too weak to establish a proper connection with it.
If the space was still there, he could help them bind to it.
However, the moment his spiritual power attempted to enter the jade, it was suddenly bounced back.
Yu Weiwei was surprised by this.
The jade had already been bound to someone.
More importantly, he could clearly sense that Black Abyss and Mingming could use the space inside because they had been given permission to do so.
As he listened to the two of them bickering, Yu Weiwei suddenly realized something.
Their master, Xu Nianye, was clearly still alive.
But how was that possible?
It had already been three thousand years since Xu Nianye had supposedly died.
So how could he still be alive?
The baffling thing was that Xu Nianye's aura was clearly not present anywhere in this universe.
Unless...
He was currently not in this world.
Meanwhile, in another world...
A man was chained with heavy-looking chains.
The chains were covered in strange inscriptions that gave them a sacred and holy aura.
However, the blood dripping from the man's body and staining the chains made those same holy chains look almost like the restraints of an evil being.
The man's long red hair draped down like a crimson waterfall, spilling onto the pool of red blood on the ground beneath him.
With everything around him stained in red, his hair didn't look out of place at all.
Then, footsteps echoed through the silent space.
A man dressed in a white robe with exquisite embroidery appeared.
His features were gentle yet powerful, making him look exceptionally handsome.
He carried a gentle and elegant aura, almost like a celestial being who had descended into the mortal world.
The man in white slowly walked toward the red-haired man.
Then, using the edge of his embroidered fan, he lifted the man's chin.
"Oh, Xu Nianye, Xu Nianye. Look at what has become of the Lord of Mystic Puppets."
The man in white taunted, his previously gentle expression twisting with jealousy.
The red-haired man slowly opened his eyes.
His irises were amber, with streaks of red dancing within them, giving his already handsome face a devilishly alluring appearance.
"Li Xujian..."
Xu Nianye said through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse as though he hadn't spoken for years.
"Xu Nianye, you just have to tell me the secrets of space, and you can have everything you want. Why are you making things so difficult for yourself?"