So, Ling Xiaoyou didn’t try to strike up a conversation with the Vice Captain again, since the other person seemed pretty busy.
She went straight to the side of the patroller who was constantly replacing spirit stones for the formation and quietly observed for a while.
Thus, Ling Xiaoyou discovered that this defensive formation covering the entire Exorcists Association was actually composed of individual nodes.
Several nodes together formed this massive formation, and because the formation was so huge, each node had to be powered separately—powering just one was useless.
Thinking this, Ling Xiaoyou glanced at the spirit stones piled together, which were clearly being consumed at a visible rate.
She felt that after a while, all these stones would be used up.
By then, even if the formation wasn’t breached by the demons, it would dissipate due to lack of energy.
With that thought, Ling Xiaoyou quietly stepped forward.
While the patroller changing the stones moved to the next location, she placed her small hand on the node.
A suction force came from her palm, and Ling Xiaoyou sensed her Spiritual Energy being continuously absorbed by the node.
But luckily, her total Spiritual Energy was enormous, especially since she had been enhanced by the Nether Spring Ghost Crystal.
Even so, she could match a Yin General-level cultivator.
Of course, that only applied to those who had just advanced.
Compared to someone who had cultivated in the Yin General stage for a long time, she was certainly inferior.
Even so, it was enough.
It might seem like Ling Xiaoyou often dealt with Yin Generals like Bai Shuanglian and Su Taosheng, but in reality, this stage was already considered a great power in the eyes of rogue cultivators.
If they wanted, they could even establish their own sects.
The reason the Yin General stage appeared so worthless was simply because the circles Ling Xiaoyou moved in were high-end—either the daughter of the Southern King or the young miss of the Bai Family.
That made Yin Generals seem cheap.
Ling Xiaoyou snapped her fingers.
Several streams of water spread from under her feet, transforming into her shape and appearance.
Then, these “Xiaoyou replicas” were controlled by her to move in front of each node.
Under the stunned gaze of the patroller changing the spirit stones, Ling Xiaoyou directed her clones to continuously inject Spiritual Energy into the nodes.
Feeling her internal Spiritual Energy gradually depleting, Ling Xiaoyou glanced at the demons still attacking the defensive shield.
Then, with a thought, she released several buff spells and Spell Overclocking.
A small dark cloud gathered above her little head.
If anyone could see the flow of Spiritual Energy around, they would notice that the dark cloud above Ling Xiaoyou’s head was like a whale in the sea, constantly absorbing the surrounding Spiritual Energy, converting it into Spiritual Energy, and raining it down on Ling Xiaoyou to replenish her consumption.
Soon, the depleted Spiritual Energy was restored.
At the same time, Ling Xiaoyou increased the input of Spiritual Energy, making the defensive formation stronger and harder to break.
The patrollers fighting against the demons inside the defensive shield were the first to notice this change.
They turned their heads in surprise, thinking their superior had gone all out and dumped all the spirit stones into the nodes.
But when they turned around, they saw that the spirit stones they had scraped together were still intact.
Although much less than before, they clearly hadn’t been consumed completely.
While they were confused, someone soon noticed the multiple Ling Xiaoyous standing in front of the nodes, looking like quintuplets.
They froze for a moment, and then a bold guess popped into their minds.
‘Could it be that this suddenly fortified defensive shield is because of these girls?!’
‘But that’s impossible?! Such a huge spiritual energy burden—how could a girl at only the Soul Gathering Stage manage that?!’
As these fighters were wavering in shock, Ling Xiaoyou seemed to notice their gazes.
She smiled at them and waved her little hand.
Seeing her adorable appearance, the fighters immediately cast aside their doubts and guesses.
‘With a child this cute, it’s perfectly normal for her to do something like this!’
Having reached that conclusion, the fighters, charmed by Ling Xiaoyou’s cuteness, returned to their posts and continued clearing the demons.
Ling Xiaoyou withdrew her gaze, thought for a moment, then split off another clone to guard this node in her place.
She then prepared to move to the next location to see if there were other places she could help.
But as soon as she turned around, she saw the Vice Captain, who had previously looked very busy, standing not far behind her with a complicated expression, as if wanting to say something but hesitating.
Ling Xiaoyou slammed on the brakes just in time and didn’t bump into the Vice Captain.
Looking at the Vice Captain’s complicated gaze, she thought the other person was here to blame her for acting on her own.
But just as Ling Xiaoyou was about to explain, she saw the Vice Captain suddenly bend at the waist and bow to her.
This sudden development startled Ling Xiaoyou.
She subconsciously thought the Vice Captain was about to attack without saying a word.
But before she could dodge, she heard the Vice Captain speak in a grave voice:
“Thank you for your help. I truly underestimated you earlier. I hope you won’t take it to heart.”
“Eh? It doesn’t seem like he’s here to reprimand me?”
Ling Xiaoyou blinked, then scratched her little face a bit sheepishly, saying:
“It’s really nothing. I just did what I could.”
As she spoke, she quickly helped the Vice Captain up.
She was really not good at handling other people’s gratitude.
“No, this was crucial.”
The Vice Captain shook his head, glanced around at the defensive shield, then looked at the patrollers of the Regulatory Division being protected within it, and said:
“We actually came too hastily this time and didn’t expect this situation, so we didn’t bring many spirit stones.”
“Without your help, at this rate of consumption, in at most half an hour, we would have been overwhelmed by the surging demon tide.”
“By then, all of us in the Regulatory Division would have died.”
As he spoke, the Vice Captain’s tone grew heavier, clearly unwilling to see that future happen.
Seeing this, Ling Xiaoyou opened her mouth to say something comforting, but this somewhat rigid Vice Captain waved his hand, indicating he didn’t need consolation.
“Although we in the Regulatory Division might encounter a powerful cultivator and die at any time, we absolutely don’t want to lose our lives meaninglessly in a situation like this.”
“Besides, I heard from the Captain that you chose to stay and help us. That alone deserves our gratitude.”
“So, truly, thank you for your assistance!!”