Chapter 533: Chapter 125: It’s the Old Monster in Stone!
Flames soared into the sky, and the heat waves surged upward.
Boom!
The wooden giant into which Lord Long had transformed, towering five to six zhang, collapsed backward, smashing heavily onto the ground!
The once-overwhelming vitality that was his advantage, was now, under the burning of the Lifeless Fire, his fatal weakness.
All things in life mutually generate and overcome each other. Extreme entities are easily curbed by other extremes; this is the logic of nature!
Hence, the world of cultivation is harmonious and unified.
Sun Lingtong, with her hand on her forehead, sighed, “This is too tragic, really too tragic.”
“Lord Long drew the most attention, and he also took the harshest beating.”
“On Liangzhu Country’s side, they really threw everything they had at him.”
“Even the toughest of men couldn’t withstand this!”
As if hearing Sun Lingtong’s exclamation, the giant in the fire suddenly crackled and popped, like the sound of burning firewood.
The robust body of Lord Long still occasionally trembled in the fire.
It was indeed very tragic.
Ning Zhuo lifted his head, his gaze piercing through the remains of the Mechanical Dragon and the Old Monster in Stone, through the vast sky, reaching above the clouds.
“There’s still an ambush from Liangzhu Country!”
Ning Zhuo then accessed the imagery within the Ten-Thousand-Li Travelling Dragon, carefully examining the trajectory of that line of fire.
From this line of fire, he sensed a potent presence of Military Art.
Ning Zhuo fell into deep thought.
“The Lifeless Fire is one thing, but Lord Long’s current state is quite strange. The fact that he was burnt and fell unconscious is definitely not without reason.”
“What kind of method did that high-altitude army use?”
A thought struck Ning Zhuo, and suddenly, he recalled a piece of intelligence from the Fire Cloud Camp.
“In the Battle Formation Dharma of Fire Cloud Camp, there is a variant technique called ‘Fire Tongue Pointing at Generals.'”
“This technique concentrates all the Power of the Battle Formation Dharma to a single point, specifically targeting individuals on the battlefield.”
“Especially those powerful military generals!”
However, this ‘Fire Tongue Pointing at Generals’ alone couldn’t have caused Lord Long to fall into such a peculiar unconscious state.
Ning Zhuo continued his observations, alternating through various detection methods in his hands.
Soon, his eyes lit up as he discovered the truth.
“It’s the Acute Fire Attack technique!”
“This is a method of Divine Sense attack, a Divine Art.”
Divine Arts are techniques that mainly rely on the spirit and will as their carriers.
The Acute Fire Attack technique — it can plunge the target into a state of anxiety and irritability, igniting a raging fire within the Divine Sea.
If the affected cultivator cannot calm their anxious and irritable emotions, they will not be able to extinguish this flame.
Moreover, those anxious and worried emotions will further fuel this raging fire.
The larger the fire, the more it can provoke more anxious, irritable negative emotions.
Thus, a vicious cycle is formed.
“So, Lord Long appears to be unconscious, but in reality, his Upper Dantian within the Divine Sea is engulfed in Acute Fire.”
“He is literally ‘fire-attacked at heart,’ extremely agitated. Hence, his body cannot move at all!”
Shuangjing, whose armor was already worn and tattered, also looked up to the sky at this moment.
“It must be Fire Cloud Camp!”
His expression was rather complex.
On one hand, he couldn’t help but curse Sun Gan in his heart.
He had always thought that Fire Cloud Camp was still in Canglin Immortal City. As it turns out, Fire Cloud Camp had secretly been marching through the high skies.
Shuangjing, who prided himself on his status, did not expect to be kept in the dark about this arrangement.
His heart filled with the irritation of being kept out of the loop.
But on the other hand, he had to admit that Sun Gan’s move was wise.
“The enemy’s ability to scout military intelligence is strong; they had grasped the marching time and route of our rear army.”
“If Sun Gan hadn’t kept it a secret, Fire Cloud Camp might have also suffered.”
“It is precisely because he kept even his own people in the dark that he now has today’s winning move!”
Shuangjing thought of this and couldn’t help but clench his teeth in secret.
He looked at the ruined camp, where corpses were scattered all around and broken walls stood.
“How tragic is the loss!” Once full of ambition, Shuangjing now turned all his aspirations into sorrow.
Shuangjing couldn’t help but lament, “If the Fire Cloud Camp’s march wasn’t kept secret, this troop would definitely have been the enemy’s first target.”
“In that case, I wouldn’t have become the main target focused on.”
“And my losses wouldn’t have been so devastating!”
Thinking of this, Shuangjing was so heartbroken that he almost bled.
However, he quickly steadied his emotions and stared intently at the giant in the fire.
A sharp gleam flashed in his eyes as he boosted his morale, “If I can spare Lord Long’s life, then all the losses of our army will be worth it!”
Lord Long himself was once a peak Nascent Soul Level being, but due to old age, his cultivation level had slipped to the late stages of Nascent Soul.
However, once he started fighting and used various spells and Divine Arts to empower himself, he could easily return to the peak of Nascent Soul strength.
Even more so, he could subtly surpass the limit of Nascent Soul Level and reach the brink of Divinity Transformation.
Lord Long’s fighting power was truly too strong.
Besides, Lord Long’s defeat also held great political significance.
Because he himself was the temple priest of the Dragon King Temple, an important spokesperson for the Ginseng Whisker Dragon King in the mortal world.
If he died or was captured alive by Liangzhu Country’s side, it would have a tremendous impact on the morale of both sides.
Military morale, though intangible, is very important.
These factors can be directly reflected on the battlefield, specifically in the strength of a military force.
“Right, Old Monster in Stone!”
“Where did this shameless old thing go?”
“If we can retain him, we could recover most of our losses!”
As soon as he thought of Old Monster in Stone, Shuangjing, a scion of a noble family, immediately ground his teeth in anger.
Sun Ning and his companion were halfway to Red Flower Camp, watching the fierce flames burning all over Lord Long, and then looking over at the Red Flower Camp.
Lord Long’s fall meant a surge in Red Flower Camp’s morale, and their military strength also increased severalfold!
For Sun Ning and his companion to go looking for trouble with them now would be ill-timed.
The glow of the fire cast on Mu Lan’s pale face, as she rarely showed a smile and softly said, “Uncle Zhang, I won the bet!”
Zhang Zhongyi exclaimed, “Yes, you’ve won, we all won. But the risks involved in this were perhaps too high.”
Suddenly, he thought of something and immediately asked, “General Mu… did you know that Fire Cloud Camp was hidden high in the sky?”
Mu Lan shook her head, “Even Shuangjing was in the dark, so of course I didn’t know.”
“I just seized a possible opportunity and gave it my all.”
“That’s how my father taught me—war is about finding the path you believe is most conducive to victory and then having the courage to bet on it!”
Zhang Zhongyi’s expression was complex, “Although White Jade Camp suffered heavy casualties, the most seriously injured among the main and deputy generals are still alive. I’m going to save them with all my strength shortly.”
“Plus, we were the first army to come to the aid, so even if those nobles and high families in the Royal Capital pursue accountability, they’ll only remember our good deeds.”
“We haven’t even really participated in the main battle, and we’ve already seized such an excellent opportunity. General Mu, your goal of restoring your family’s honor, one could say, is halfway achieved.”
Mu Lan nodded, “The start is good; it’s going smoothly.”
“But it’s not enough.”
“I still need to demonstrate the Mu Family’s strength in the direct confrontation. In short, the more military achievements I gain, the more hopeful I will be in reviving my family.”
While they were conversing, four Nascent Soul Cultivators from the Six Cave Sect also rushed to the edge of this battle.
“Lord Long?!”
“Is this… Lifeless Fire?”
Blood Shadow Cave Master and Poison Scorpion Cave Master exclaimed in succession.
Demon Heart Cave Master looked at Lu Hongtu, “No wonder the Great Cave Master retreated in time; it turns out our situation was already dangerously unstable!”
Lu Hongtu gave a wry smile, “Dangerous? More than that. Lord Long utilized the roots of the Dragon King, and the immense vitality actually fueled the might of the Lifeless Fire. With such enormous flames, who among us can go in to rescue?”
“Who has such means?”
The three Nascent Soul Cultivators including Demon Heart all lost their color.
“Then shall we… retreat?” Demon Heart Cave Master hesitated for a moment, communicating only with Divine Sense.
Lu Hongtu’s expression was gloomy, and he was about to nod when suddenly his gaze froze, showing a look of shock.
Because he saw a round stone ball charging into the towering flames with an unprecedented, desperate valor!
It was Old Monster in Stone!!