A mountain valley.
"All soldiers, listen to orders, form the Iron Bucket Formation!" Xu Dali stood under the general's banner, invoking military tactics.
Military Tactic—Speed is of the Essence!
With this military tactic, the speed of the Barbarian and Demon Camp immediately increased by more than double.
However, the time to form the battle array did not decrease much, and many even mistakenly ran to the wrong positions due to not adapting to the sudden acceleration, causing errors in coordination.
"Just like the intelligence said, the training level of the Barbarian and Demon Camp is the worst. Hahaha!"
"Brothers, hit them hard."
"If we don't eliminate these isolated troops today, when they join together, it will be us on the chopping block."
Cultivators, primarily barbarian cultivators with some demon cultivators as support, frequently appeared in the mountains and forests, casting various spells and focusing their attacks on the Barbarian and Demon Camp.
Large rolling stones the size of cartwheels fell with the mountain slope, smashing the soldiers of the Barbarian and Demon Camp, causing head injuries and bloodshed.
Poisons needles, as fine as cow hair and impossible to defend against, occasionally caused soldiers to fall to the ground, foaming at the mouth, convulsing and dying.
Vines suddenly sprang from the ground, strangling unsuspecting soldiers on the spot.
After the Barbarian and Demon Camp lost hundreds of lives, they finally formed the Iron Bucket Formation.
The moment the battle array succeeded, the defense of the entire army greatly increased, turning their precarious situation into safety.
An invisible carriage was speeding through the sky.
The driver, seeing the battle below between the Barbarian and Demon Camp and the indigenous cultivators of the Thousand Peak Forest, immediately transmitted his thoughts to the people inside the carriage: "Sir, our army below is at a disadvantage, should we intervene to help?"
Judging by the strength of several cultivators on the carriage, their intervention would definitely overturn the entire situation.
But Zhao Xi, the backbone of the group, snorted coldly: "Xu Dali is a useless man. It's not just that the Barbarian and Demon Camp lacks training. The key point is that he directly formed the Iron Bucket Formation, turning them into sitting ducks."
"How ridiculous!"
"If he had formed an offensive battle array, the opposing forces are just scattered soldiers, without an army, how could they resist?"
"Xu Dali got himself into this mess, why should we go save him?"
"The most important thing now is for me to rush to the frontline camp and take charge of the situation."
"Commander Du is seriously injured and in seclusion. As the military supervisor personally appointed by the Monarch, I must hurry to take charge."
"These troops being eliminated has its reasons."
"Once I reach the camp, I can naturally get the main force to take this seriously and dispatch troops to assist. That's the decision a general should make. Go!"
The driver felt disdain in his heart but maintained a respectful expression: "As you command, sir!"
Liangzhu Country Frontline Camp.
Ning Zhuo returned to his residence and dove into the Mechanical Dragon, fiddling with various materials around three mechanical platforms.
On the Xuanyuan Nine Workshop table, pieces of blue electric current silver were quickly processed into flexible metal silver wires. Each silver wire occasionally glimmered with electric light.
Ning Zhuo put away the electric light silver wires and took out Dragon Scale Gold.
With his palm pressed to the Xuanyuan Nine Workshop table, he continuously operated it. Each piece of Dragon Scale Gold was carved into very sharp hook shapes. Each cut made the hooks' curvature and sharpness just right.
After crafting hundreds of pieces, Ning Zhuo inspected them and nodded in satisfaction: "If I had to process each one individually, it would take at least three days and nights, and the final products would have many defects. These, however, are perfect."
Next, Ning Zhuo took out a large number of half-dead half-alive orbs.
"Chen Cha..."
Ning Zhuo's gaze became slightly blurred, recalling the kind man in his memory.
The half-dead half-alive orbs were Chen Cha's original creation. Using the array patterns of the White Scale Hermit as a basis, combined with his own experience and a sudden moment of inspiration, he designed these mechanical components.
Mainly used in joints.
Each orb had two sides, one pitch black, one pure white. The black side had the character for "death", the white side had the character for "life".
When the orb turned to the white side, the joint would move freely. When the orb turned to the black side, the joint part would be locked accordingly.
The orbs also had a hidden connection. If a cultivator engraved array patterns on the mechanical main component, one or more functional arrays could be formed.
Back in Fire Persimmon Immortal City, the wooden beads that Chen Cha provided to Ning Zhuo were too low in grade. The orbs Ning Zhuo was using now were specially made by him, reaching Golden Core Level.
Ning Zhuo worked diligently, using these half-dead half-alive orbs as the foundation, wrapping and pulling with electric light silver wires, constructing a snake body made of metal network. He then covered the metal mesh with the scales made from Dragon Scale Gold.
In this way, a prototype of a mechanical artifact took shape.
Next, Ning Zhuo used his Divine Sense, mana, and mechanical tools to process it further. For example, adding talismans, setting up formations, etc.
More than two hours later, a mechanical creation resembling a golden snake lay quietly on the surface of the mechanical platform.
Mechanical Beast—Golden-scaled Saw Snake!
This mechanical snake shone with golden light, appearing very delicate. Its body was covered with sharp saw-like scales. When its mouth opened, a pair of hook-shaped fangs could extend.
Ning Zhuo tried to activate it, and saw the Golden-scaled Saw Snake slither flexibly and naturally on the surface of the mechanical platform.
Ning Zhuo took out an iron tree stump.
The Golden-scaled Saw Snake shot forward suddenly, leaving a golden streak in Ning Zhuo's vision.
Its body extended and coiled around the iron tree stump.
Mechanical Technique—Golden-scaled Saw Kill!
Ning Zhuo activated this self-created mechanical technique, and the scales on the Golden-scaled Saw Snake stood up vertically, embedding into the iron tree stump.