: About My Drone Suddenly Learning to Flatter

In this world, "swearing an oath to the Holy Spirit" is an extremely serious matter. Legend has it that the Holy Spirit roams between heaven and earth, listening to and witnessing all oaths—those who break them will not be struck by lightning on the spot, but they will often encounter all sorts of bizarre "misfortunes." Even the most fearless and reckless cultists dare not joke about this.

"What oath?" Li asked, trying to calm himself.

Elder Xiao composed himself, clasped his hands together, and adopted a very solemn posture: "Simply do this, and then say—'Holy Spirit above, I, Li Xian, swear by my soul that I will never do anything to harm Xiao Lingshan. If I break this oath, I am willing to be condemned by Heaven.'"

"Alright." Li Xian was burning with anxiety inside, but on the surface he pretended to be very serious. He put his hands together in imitation and loudly repeated the oath without missing a single word—anyway, he had no intention of hurting the girl, so he made the oath without any pressure.

"Uncle Xiao!" Han Yunyang's eyes reddened with anxiety. "How could you believe the oath of that demonic cult member?!"

"Brother Yunyang," Xiao Lingshan walked up to him, gently straightened his disheveled collar, her smile gentle yet firm, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

Han Yunyang stared blankly at her, a premonition of impending loss, bordering on panic, welling up inside him for the first time. He suddenly reached out and hugged Xiao Lingshan tightly: "Don't go...don't go with him, okay?"

Xiao Lingshan gently stroked his back and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Don't forget what I promised you."

"Let's go! It'll be completely dark if we dawdle any longer!" Li Xian urged impatiently at the cave entrance. Without the radiation powering the brain, the light inside the cave was dimming at a visible speed—although night vision was probably just a basic skill for these cultivators.

"Oh, right," he suddenly remembered something and muttered to himself, "I should bring all this stuff with me..."

Before the words were even finished!

As if receiving a military command, three "black bats" and two quadcopters swooped down, rapidly traversing the cavern. Using some kind of magnetic attraction or micro-force field, they precisely picked up various miniature objects scattered throughout—knives, bayonets, silver foil, gold flakes—and then neatly adhered them to the fuselage surface or internal compartments. Their movements were fluid and efficient, resembling a well-trained miniature cleaning crew.

"Wow...they can really understand me?!" Li Xian was overjoyed and almost laughed out loud. The anxiety of his brain going offline was greatly relieved by this unexpected discovery—it turns out these five little guys are not only bodyguards, but also all-around assistants! Although the boss was temporarily offline, the "pets" he left behind are quite intelligent!

"Young Master Li... Young Master Li!" a weak voice rang out.

Elder Feng rubbed his hands together, a sincere (even somewhat obsequious) smile plastered on his face, and bowed, saying, "I dare to... humbly request that you, young hero, bestow upon me a treasure? Even the smallest blade would suffice! I will be eternally grateful for this kindness and repay it with my life!"

Everyone: "..." Elder Feng, where is your integrity?

Li Xian readily agreed, casually plucking a gleaming, one-millimeter-sized microblade from a drone that had just returned—a high-purity energy condensate—and tossing it over like trash: "Here, play with it."

Elder Feng was overjoyed, holding the hair-thin blade in his hands. He trembled with excitement, murmuring, "The Holy Blade... it really is the Holy Blade!" He bent lower and lower, almost kneeling in worship.

Li Xian's eyes twitched: "It's just a blade bigger than a fingernail... Is it really that serious?"

"It's a pity there's no holy water... even just a drop would be good..." Elder Peng, who was slowly waking up, stared at the blade and muttered to himself.

"Dream on." Elder Cao scoffed, but his gaze was fixed on the shimmering light of the blade, unable to look away.

Only Elder Tian sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, concentrating on refining the pure energy brought by the half grain of "stardust" in his body, and ignored the "competition for favor" drama around him - what metal toy could compare to real improvement in cultivation?

"Are you leaving or not?!" Li raised his voice, glaring at the two protagonists who were still putting on a "life-or-death farewell".

Xiao Lingshan gently pushed Han Yunyang away, then glanced at her father one last time. Elder Xiao nodded slightly, everything understood without a word.

Three "black bats" led the way, and Li Xian and Xiao Lingshan walked out of the cave one after the other.

Inside the cave, Han Yunyang said worriedly, "Father, I'm still worried about Lingshan..."

Lord Han patted his son's shoulder and said in a low voice, "Yang'er, don't worry. Although this person's actions are cunning, judging from his words and deeds, he is not a truly wicked person. Since he has sworn an oath to the Holy Spirit, he would not dare to act rashly. Besides..." He paused, leaving the rest of his sentence unfinished: "Ling Shan's expression when she left did not seem entirely forced."

"Although he may use some cunning methods, this person saves lives, keeps his promises, and has some... morality." Elder Feng added slowly, playing with the "Holy Blade".

"Heh," Elder Tian lifted his eyelids and sneered, "Old Feng, you've received a huge bribe, haven't you? Your words are practically dripping with honey."

"Benefits?" Elder Feng raised an eyebrow. "Who here hasn't received help from his 'Stardust'? With this pure energy, given time, breaking through to the Heavenly Origin Realm is just around the corner! Isn't that a great favor?"

"But you also obtained the 'Holy Blade'!" Elder Tian said sourly. "From now on, the Golden Sect will probably have to follow your lead, Elder Feng. We old folks will have to suffer and cultivate on our own."

"Enough," Lord Han suddenly shouted in a deep voice.

He stood up, his palms slowly pushing forward. The next moment—

One, two, three!

A warm, orange-yellow light flowed from his palm, instantly filling the entire cave! The space, which had been dim due to the depletion of energy, suddenly became bright, warm, and full of life!

"Congratulations, Lord of the Fortress!"

"Congratulations, Lord Fortress Master, on your advancement in cultivation!"

"Haha, it seems it won't be long before the Fortress Master will be able to step into the mid-stage Heavenly Origin realm!"

Master Han finished his practice, a hint of joy on his face, but he quickly concealed it. He looked at his son: "Yang'er, mid-level Heavenly Origin Realm, your Xuan Qi can transform into light at a level of five or more, and you can control it at will, combining offense and defense."

"Then we can defeat that petty thief surnamed Li!" Han Yunyang's eyes lit up.

The cave suddenly fell silent for a moment.

Lord Han glanced at his son but didn't respond. Instead, he said, "Now that you elders have received this opportunity, you should diligently cultivate and break through as soon as possible. The future of Han Family Fortress is bright." He then looked at his son, "Yang'er, you must also work hard. In the future, go to the prefecture, or even the capital, and make a name for yourself."

"Lord of the Fortress," Elder Xiao suddenly stood up, his leg injury seemingly healed, "Ling Shan and the others have been gone for a while now, and I'm really worried about them. I'd like to follow them to keep an eye on things, just in case. Please trouble you all to pass on a message to my family."

"I'll go too!" Han Yunyang said immediately.

"Nonsense!" Lord Han frowned. "Your injuries haven't healed yet; going with you would only be a burden. Elder Xiao, be careful in everything you do, and don't force it."

Outside the cave, dusk was falling, and forest birds were returning to their nests, creating a noisy cacophony.

"Junior Sister Xiao!" The guards who were left behind immediately surrounded the two of them when they came out, staring at Li Xian warily.

Li Xian's face darkened, and his hand went to his waist—now that he had an AI companion, dealing with these small fry was a piece of cake.

"Step back!" Xiao Lingshan spoke first, her tone calm. "Young Master Li and I have important business to attend to, so please do not disturb us."

The guards exchanged glances, hesitatingly making way. They watched as Xiao Lingshan and Li Xian walked one after the other into the depths of the forest—the girl walked with ease, even leading the way, showing no signs of being coerced.

Li Xian followed behind, his mind racing: Where to? Find a secluded place where he could safely "conduct experiments" and avoid the "other brain" that might be following them...

"Young Master Li," Xiao Lingshan, who was walking ahead, suddenly turned around, smiling sweetly. The afterglow of the setting sun cast a soft glow on her profile. "How about... we go to your bandit's lair? You should know the way there well, right?"

Li Xian: "..." What do you mean I know that?! That dilapidated village in the original owner's memories was wiped out long ago! Is this girl testing me or does she really think I'm a bandit leader?

He remained expressionless and did not answer, but simply raised his hand and waved it towards the air.

A "Black Bat" AI appeared in response and hovered in front of him, almost within reach.

This was the first time Li Xian had observed it so closely: a streamlined black body with a deep, crystalline "compound eye" on each side, shimmering faintly. At the flat tail, two rows of extremely fine ventilation holes emitted almost invisible pale white vortexes.

He cleared his throat and attempted to give instructions: "Listen, we need to find a place that is absolutely secluded, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and preferably with a water source..."

"Young Master Li."

A deep, steady, slightly mechanical but crystal clear baritone voice suddenly emanated from inside the drone!

Li Xian: "!!!"

Xiao Lingshan: "!!!"

The girl suddenly covered her mouth, her eyes wide open as if she had witnessed the most unbelievable sight in the world—the magical artifact had spoken?! A storm raged in her heart, and her feigned composure shattered instantly.

Li Xian was stunned for a full two seconds, then pinched his thigh hard.

Stay calm! AI speech synthesis! Big data training! Intelligent learning! The brain has said they can continue learning... Yes, they must have been listening to and analyzing everyone's conversations, mimicking human speech patterns! Don't falter!

"Young Master Li," the voice sounded again, polite, even carrying a hint of...human concern? "It seems you need to find a secluded place. Based on the scanned terrain data and voiceprint emotion analysis, your heart rate is currently high, indicating anxiety. We suggest you take deep breaths."

Li Xian: "..."

Xiao Lingshan: "..." The magical artifact can not only talk, but also...care about people?

Li Xian took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound calm: "That's right. You...do you have any suggestions?"

"Searching the database, retrieving historical terrain scan records..." The drone's eyes flashed. "Three candidate locations have been selected. Based on distance, concealment, resources, and your and Ms. Xiao's current physical condition, we recommend a natural karst cave 1.7 kilometers southeast. This location has an underground river branch, a hidden entrance, a complex internal structure, and a weak heat source signal."

It paused, and its voice seemed... a little gentler?

"Young Master Li, would you like me to show you the way?"