Chapter 547: War Preparations
The flames burned quietly.
Tongues of fire danced in silence, their movements graceful, radiating a compassionate Buddhist intent.
Fire Burial Prajna Spirit-Resolving Sutra!
Ning Zhuo stood before the cluster of flames. Firelight reflected in his eyes, revealing a trace of lingering attachment.
Within the flames, the materials and components of the former Cang Tie Han Armor rapidly melted, and from time to time spirituality was analyzed and released.
The spirituality scattered like tiny specks through the air. Then, guided by Ning Zhuo’s spiritual sense, most of it settled onto a mechanical puppet.
This mechanical puppet resembled an ascetic bhikkhuni. A flax-colored robe wrapped around its mechanical joints, while bronze hands protruded from the sleeves. A vermilion mark on its brow circulated with Buddhist radiance.
Its face seemed to smile yet not smile, its eyelids half lowered with hidden compassion.
Bronze rotating shafts were exposed at the knees. On its feet were a pair of straw sandals woven from hemp, faintly concealing formation patterns that were difficult to discern.
It was precisely the Buddhist Doctor—Meng Yaoyin.
A large portion of the spirituality was infused into the Buddhist Doctor.
The remaining portion was still collected by Ning Zhuo and stored within the Spirit Storage Box.
Ning Zhuo had improved and upgraded the Cang Tie Han Armor, and the replaced materials were directly cremated to nourish the spirituality of the Buddhist Doctor—Meng Yaoyin.
“Now that’s done, the item I kept as a last safeguard has been used up.”
A faint sense of crisis arose in Ning Zhuo’s heart.
The Cang Tie Han Armor had always been his safeguard, preventing unexpected problems with the Buddhist Doctor—Meng Yaoyin. If its spirituality were to fall into an extremely dangerous state, the Cang Tie Han Armor would serve as the life-saving remedy.
Burning the Cang Tie Han Armor ahead of time could not completely heal the Buddhist Doctor—Meng Yaoyin.
Keeping that trump card as a life-saving method would have been the wiser strategy.
“I hope I can obtain that mechanical carriage compartment.”
“And besides that, the more the better!”
If it were merely a single mechanical carriage compartment, Ning Zhuo would not immediately cremate it. Instead, he would use it to replace the Cang Tie Han Armor as the final insurance.
The flames continued to burn, yet no more spirituality emerged.
After removing the residual slag and waste, Ning Zhuo threw another pile of relics into the fire.
These relics came from Tian Shuang and originally belonged to Qi Bai. Tian Shuang had used these relics to perform calculations and deduce Ning Zhuo’s location.
Tian Shuang’s great “gift,” by sheer coincidence, had allowed Ning Zhuo to obtain Qi Bai’s relics.
There was nothing more to say—cremate them directly!
The flames blazed, spirituality danced in the air, and then gathered into the body of the Nether Messenger—Qi Bai.
The puppet Qi Bai was primarily black with gray-white accents.
It stood six and a half feet tall with a thin frame. Upon its head was a conical black hat, while its gray-white skull resembled human bone.
Where its eyes should be was a long black strip, across which ran a gray-white horizontal line emitting soul light.
Previously, Ning Zhuo had used the Nether Messenger—Qi Bai in battle within Huoshi Immortal City, which depleted much of its spirituality. Ever since then, Ning Zhuo had rarely used it.
Even during the battle against the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts, Ning Zhuo had not brought it out.
On one hand, bringing it out would not have solved the problem. On the other, it might have exposed him and provoked the hatred of the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts, worsening the situation.
Qi Bai’s spirituality continued to rise.
But the anticipation in Ning Zhuo’s eyes gradually faded.
That was because Qi Bai’s spirituality rose slower and slower, eventually stopping at ninety-two percent.
“Sigh… without reaching ten-tenths spirituality, there will be no qualitative change.”
“This Golden Core–level puppet still cannot be used freely.”
Ning Zhuo thought of Di Hui.
According to Tian Shuang, Di Hui also possessed some of Qi Bai’s relics.
“If those were burned, Qi Bai’s spirituality would very likely reach ten-tenths. Once the qualitative change occurs, its spirituality would gradually recover on its own.”
“Until then, it’s better to use it sparingly.”
Although the Nether Messenger—Qi Bai was of Golden Core level, without a qualitative transformation in spirituality it remained a consumable with limited uses.
Moreover, it involved the Soul Dao and bore obvious demonic traits with heavy sinister sect aura. It was unsuitable for Ning Zhuo to use openly.
“If it were exposed and the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts sensed its spirituality, they might realize the importance of Qi Bai’s relics.”
“For the sake of future success, it’s better to endure for now and keep this card in hand rather than play it too soon!”
Both the Nether Messenger—Qi Bai and the Buddhist Doctor—Meng Yaoyin originated from the Lava Immortal Palace and carried the Three Sect Lords’ understanding of mechanism arts.
They shared a common feature: integration.
Because the boundaries between their components were extremely indistinct, the two puppets seemed as though they had been formed as a single body. This made analyzing their structure extremely difficult for Ning Zhuo.
Though Ning Zhuo wished to study them more deeply, he lacked the time and energy, leaving him helpless despite his intentions.
After putting away the two mechanical puppets, Ning Zhuo took out the Cang Tie Han Armor again for testing and practice.
At present, he did not possess a Golden Core, so he could only grind spirit stones into spheres and embed them into the Five Elements Golden Core Wheel as a temporary substitute.
He donned the newly upgraded Cang Tie Han Armor and shook the twin wings on his back, flying into the air.
When gliding, the wings remained fixed. The shoulder armor drooped down and latched onto both sides of the helmet. Together with the pointed head, the shoulders and head formed a triangular shape.
His arms pressed tightly against his sides, and his legs were closed together without the slightest gap.
Behind his calves and heels were a pair of fin-like panels used for steering.
While gliding, the consumption of spiritual power was significantly reduced.
When truly bursting with speed, the Golden Swallow Flying Wings folded completely against his back. Nozzles appeared across the Cang Tie Han Armor, spewing Li-Fire for powerful propulsion.
Once Ning Zhuo accelerated like this, he became like an arrow released from a bowstring, tearing through the sky and splitting the air, leaving behind a long straight trail of Li-Fire.
It was exhilarating!
The only flaw was that under such conditions, the spirit stone spheres could not sustain the consumption and were quickly exhausted.
“Golden Core. Only a Golden Core can support the current Cang Tie Han Armor!”
Ning Zhuo had already contacted the Three Generals Camp and sent a letter to Zhao Xi. While waiting for replies—and for the Golden Core, possibly even a Nascent Soul—he used the Fetal-Breath Spirit Vessel to cultivate his physical body.
The stronger his physical body became, the greater the military art reinforcement he could obtain.
The benefits were obvious, and Ning Zhuo found it impossible to stop.
Aside from that, he improved and designed several Five Elemental Spells and practiced them repeatedly.
Li-Fire Impurity-Burning Art!
This spell ignited wounds, burning away all filth. It was particularly effective against Soul Dao and poison cultivator techniques.
Blazing Wildfire Spirit-Healing Flame!
Once cast, it ignited a flame within the Sea of Consciousness. The fire burned harmful thoughts while preserving useful ones.
This was a countermeasure Ning Zhuo devised after suffering from Buddhist Intent.
Stone Suppression Soul Mantra!
After casting it, a cultivator could transform part of their flesh into stone, resisting pain while suppressing the soul to defend against soul-based damage.
Ning Zhuo created this spell after experiencing Tian Shuang’s Frost Soul Gaze divine ability and recognizing the weakness in his soul defenses.
However, because he designed it with a focus on power, it had severe drawbacks.
After casting it, his speed would drop drastically.
Pure Land Restoration Art!
This spell required the treasure material Western Pure Land.
Ning Zhuo still had some in reserve.
With this technique, he could regenerate severed limbs, and the new limbs would be perfectly purified, free of any impurity.
Besides these, Ning Zhuo optimized the Flame Cloak Technique and designed a three-layer Li-Fire Shield.
He also designed earth-element spells: Thick Earth Armor and Stone Plate Shield.
During the previous life-and-death battle, he had suffered many losses. This time he filled the defensive and healing gaps in his Five Elemental Spells.
When one’s Five Elements realm is profound, one can truly do as one pleases.
From these spells it was clear that Ning Zhuo had only designed earth and fire spells in order to save time and effort.
The reason was simple: he currently possessed only the Earth-Element Spleen Temple and the Fire-Element Heart Temple. As long as his spiritual sense entered these temples, he could control earth and fire spells with extreme precision.
This had been an unexpected gain during his earlier life-and-death battles.
Thus, completing the remaining three elements became Ning Zhuo’s cultivation goal.
When parting from Sect Master Lin Bufan, Ning Zhuo had already renegotiated their previous agreement, asking Lin Bufan to retrieve the Ten-Thousand-Year Water Essence for him.
Aside from practicing spells, Ning Zhuo squeezed every spare moment to design flying mechanical puppets.
Because time was so tight, he had no choice but to adopt the most practical plan.
Based on the biological structure of the Golden Swallow, he created a biomimetic Mechanical Golden Swallow. This saved him enormous time and effort in the design phase.
Afterward, he modified it further so its control method resembled the Mechanical Silent Thunder Birds.
Mechanical Silent Thunder Birds were a classic mechanism construct that Ning Zhuo often used in Huoshi Immortal City. To be precise, when he used the identity of the Young Puppet Master, Silent Thunder Birds were one of his standard offensive methods.
Thus, Ning Zhuo was extremely familiar with their operation.
With the modifications complete, the Mechanical Golden Swallow required almost no practice for him to use.
“With the Mechanical Work Platform, I can mass-produce Mechanical Golden Swallows.”
“But if they’re to be effective, they must form battle formations.”
“If only my military strategist realm were as profound as my Five Elements realm.”
Ning Zhuo possessed Gao Sheng’s Testament and Soldiers Sharing One Helm, but he had not fully comprehended the military art Warrior Returns Art.
Therefore, he could not yet combine the two treasures to gain another insight into military strategy.
However, after these recent battles, his understanding of this military art had grown deeper and deeper.
This was the normal speed of cultivation.
Ning Zhuo’s Five Elements realm was a complete anomaly.
Ning Zhuo was racing against time.
The battle against the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts had accelerated both his growth and the overall situation.
“If my guess is correct, a great battle is about to begin.”
“I hope this time I’ll have the chance to strike against the Six Caves Sect!”
Ning Zhuo had many concerns in his heart.
Judging from the current situation, this might very well be his final opportunity on the Thousand Peaks Forest battlefield.
The longer time dragged on, the more likely the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts would return.
It would be best if he achieved his goal before they returned, then quickly relocated.
After all, any detection or tracking method had distance limits.
According to the information Tian Shuang left behind, the Soul-Devouring Sect had only learned Ning Zhuo’s location after he deliberately revealed his identity in Liangzhu Kingdom and the information passed through several intermediaries.
Only after Tian Shuang and Di Hui arrived within the Thousand Peaks Forest region with Qi Bai’s relics were they able to track him.
Somewhere in the Thousand Peaks Forest.
Boom boom boom…
Tian Shuang flew high in the air, continuously bombarding Di Hui below, blasting ice shards everywhere as thunder roared.
Di Hui felt extreme bitterness in his heart.
“What kind of situation is this?!”
He dared not burrow too deeply underground, fearing Tian Shuang would lose track of him and return to Ning Zhuo—or worse, commit suicide out of overwhelming guilt.
So Di Hui had to keep Tian Shuang chasing him, leading him toward remote regions to prevent other cultivators from witnessing the scene and getting ideas.
Di Hui had to admit that this time they had truly stumbled badly. It was the most miserable experience the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts had faced in the past ten years.
“Tian Shuang, you actually used that move!” Di Hui shouted in pain, his entire body covered in frost.
Tian Shuang’s face showed deep sorrow.
“My partner… do not remain stubborn. Let me end you quickly. This will be my redemption—and yours.”
“Our sins are too great. Only death can atone for them and repay the world.”
Di Hui’s eyelids twitched in anger.
“Tian Shuang, listen to the nonsense you’re saying! I’m recording everything you say on a Jade Slip. When you recover your senses, I’ll see how you face me!”
Tian Shuang ignored him completely and continued bombarding him.
While fleeing miserably, Di Hui shouted:
“I’m recording it all! Every word!”
Thousand Peaks Forest frontline camp.
“You still haven’t found the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts?” Grandfather Long frowned as he scolded the other cultivators. “With so many of you searching, what exactly are you doing?”
The others looked bitter. One of them shook his head.
“Grandfather Long, the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts are no ordinary figures. They are Nascent Soul–level experts from the Soul-Devouring Sect. Even if they receive our Message Bird, if they don’t want to respond, they simply won’t.”
Grandfather Long fell silent in thought.
Lu Hongtu, standing nearby, sighed.
“The Heaven–Earth Combined Strike is truly formidable. With a single attack, Liangzhu Kingdom lost six or seven Nascent Soul cultivators.”
“Right now the Liangzhu Kingdom army is weakened. This may be the best opportunity in the entire war for us to launch an offensive.”
“If we could find the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts and hire them to participate in the battle, our side’s chances of victory would increase by at least twenty percent.”
Then Lu Hongtu changed tone.
“But we can’t find them. What a pity.”
“Time waits for no one.”
“If we delay any longer, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will vanish. Liangzhu Kingdom has vast resources—they’re surely replenishing their Nascent Soul cultivators right now.”
Grandfather Long glanced at Lu Hongtu, knowing his words were actually urging him.
After a moment’s thought, Grandfather Long said:
“We won’t wait for the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts.”
“Summon everyone.”
“We will launch a full assault on the Liangzhu Kingdom frontline camp!”
Liangzhu Kingdom frontline camp.
Zhao Xi frowned and questioned Liu Er.
“Where is Ning Zhuo? Why hasn’t he returned yet?”
“With a great battle approaching, if the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts attack…”
Liu Er spread his hands helplessly.
“My lord, you know my situation. I’m merely a human-demon hybrid—how could I possibly command the great young master of the Ning Family?”
“In fact, my Three Generals Camp has been funded by him all along. He is our army’s financial patron. How could I possibly force him back?”
Zhao Xi snorted coldly.
“If he refuses to obey military orders, then the military merit rewards he requested won’t come so quickly.”
Liu Er glanced at Zhao Xi’s grim expression and hesitated before speaking.
“My lord… Young Master Ning Zhuo is from another country. His family isn’t even in Liangzhu Kingdom.”
“The only connection he has here is his marriage with Mu Lan. But even that—he doesn’t care about it, since they already agreed to divorce in the future.”
“For someone like him, do you really think military merit rewards can restrain him?”
Zhao Xi fell silent for a moment, then tapped Liu Er with his finger and snorted.
“At least he didn’t invest in you wrongly.”
“Fine.”
“Send these rewards to him as soon as possible.”
“Deliver them personally.”
“And tell him: if he assists our army in the upcoming battle and helps us deal with the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts, Liangzhu Kingdom will reward him generously!”
“No… I’ll write him a letter myself. You must deliver it to him personally.”
Liu Er quickly bowed.
“This subordinate obeys!”
After dismissing Liu Er, Zhao Xi remained alone in the room and sighed deeply.
This high position was far too hot to sit in.
He was beginning to feel unable to hold onto it.
At this moment, he deeply regretted seizing power.
He truly had not expected the second great battle to arrive so quickly.
According to Zhao Xi’s original plan, he intended to rake in a large amount of military merit during this transition period.
But he had not expected the transition period to be so short.