Chapter 795: Chapter 264: Army of Paper Figures
White Paper Immortal City.
South of the City.
Paperman Giant Statue, hidden formation space.
Ning Zhuo sat cross-legged in mid-air, holding the Qianmo Treasure Lamp in his hands, having refined eighty percent of it.
In the corner, a portrait avatar of Wen Ruanyu closely watched Ning Zhuo, ready to react if the latter attempted to flee with the treasure.
At this moment, Ning Zhuo’s eyes were slightly closed, and he appeared quite calm on the surface, but his heart was stirred with great waves!
It was because, through the eighty percent connection with the Qianmo Lamp, he glimpsed the scene of the Netherworld.
In a certain Yin Cave, countless paperman soldiers were tightly arranged. Their armor, thin as cicada wings, rustled in the dark wind, and each piece was adorned with vermillion stars.
Their faces seemed made-up, with arched eyebrows slanting into the temples, and two patches of rouge resembling old bloodstains. Their lips were drawn thin, pressed into a narrow line.
The front row consisted of a large number of Paper Bull Cavalry.
Paperman Cavalry wielded long paper spears, each figure was tall and sturdy.
The hooves of the paper bulls were wrapped with silver hoofplates made of tin foil. Their eyes were inlaid with glass beads, shimmering in the dark wind. The neck folds revealed marks of bamboo strips used in their construction.
As the dark wind swept across the bulls’ backs, the paper skin rippled finely, exposing the elm wood frames inside, wrapped with soul-binding talismans.
Behind the cavalry were the spear and shield soldiers.
These paperman soldiers were the most numerous, each equipped with a talisman paper long spear and a talisman paper large shield.
Following the spear and shield soldiers were eight hundred paper puppets armed with crossbows, with bowstrings tightly strung of cow tendon, loaded with paper arrows. The arrowheads were immersed in corpse wax, and the arrow feathers were fragments of paper banners from graves.
At the central area, there were thirty-six four-horse war chariots. Sitting on each chariot were three papered deities, each with three heads and six arms, holding cloud gongs, wind flags, and rain pennants. The copper bells hanging at the four corners were wrapped in white hemp, remaining silent.
At the very center encircled by the chariots, stood the Central Army battle flag.
A 99-foot-long plain silk standard flickered, its surface unadorned by dragons and tigers, but rather covered in gold foil-cut prayers of rebirth. Instead of a spearhead, the top of the flagpole had a paper Soul Attraction banner. The ends of the seven-layered banner were adorned with tens of thousands of paper money tassels, with a thin red thread threaded through each copper coin’s square hole.
Under the battle flag stood a paper marshall proudly.
He carried three battle flags on his back, his hands empty and weaponless. He was clad in brightly-colored paper armor, his eyes pitch black, seemingly closed, as if resting in a light slumber, awaiting the order to fiercely commence the assault!
This was a paper-fold army thousands strong, with cavalry, chariots, mighty crossbows, formidable soldiers, and even the Central Army’s great general!
Not only was the variety of troops abundant, but the military appearance also moved Ning Zhuo. It was indeed as solid and unwavering as a gold clock, with forests of swords and spears, menacing armor, and formidable warriors.
“My mother actually buried a paperman army in the Netherworld!”
Although Ning Zhuo saw such an army for the first time, his experiences in Liangzhu Country, coupled with his connection to the Qianmo Lamp, informed him that this paperman army was extremely elite, far surpassing his Mechanical Army, even comparable to the Red Flower Camp.
“This is too grand a scale. If I were to command this army, at the right time, it might even overturn the city’s situation.”
“Oh, I almost forgot, my military position is already gone.”
Ning Zhuo had found his military strategist seals and such had become ineffective shortly after leaving Liangzhu Country.
While he expected this, he couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened upon realizing it.
The astonishing discovery gave Ning Zhuo even more questions: “Although the White Paper Immortal City has a City Guard Army, it lacks an organization. The army created, while strong, has no structure, so how can it possess military art, or unleash the army’s true might?”
After conversing with the avatar of the White Paper City Lord, Ning Zhuo learned many things about the White Paper Immortal City.
While the City Guard Army of the White Paper Immortal City was strong, it didn’t form into a cohesive army and didn’t enjoy the convenience of an organizational structure.
Thus, they relied on the City Protecting Great Array of the White Paper Immortal City for defense, struggling to resist the recurring Ghost Tide sieges, without the capability to counterattack.
Building an army isn’t that easy.
Even White Paper Immortal City, perched on the Yin Tide Black Swamp Wetland as an overlord-level city, garnering the most resources, has not achieved this.
Now the problem arises, without an army structure, this paperman army cannot fully unleash its true power; even saying it’s an empty shell wouldn’t be too much.
“And there’s more?!”
The next discovery left Ning Zhuo even more astonished.
It turned out there wasn’t just one such paperman army; scattered in hidden corners of the Netherworld, some underground, some in valleys, each concealed troop consisted of paperman soldiers.
The military appearances of these armies were similar, with numbers roughly comparable.
“This probably isn’t my mother’s arrangement,” Ning Zhuo formed a new judgment.
“Though my mother is a True Disciple of a super sect with Golden Core cultivation, her financial resources wouldn’t support such a grand undertaking.”
In this regard, Ning Zhuo was an outsider, but he had a general judgment.
To put it this way, with his current ample resources, crafting even one-tenth of a paperman army would be quite challenging!
Normally, even a Nascent Soul Level cultivator’s lifetime wealth wouldn’t come close.
According to Ning Zhuo’s observations, the leaders in each paper-fold army, once activated, would possess Nascent Soul Level combat strength!
Ning Zhuo had discovered four such armies already.
As he continued to refine, deepening his connection with the Qianmo Lamp, perhaps more armies would emerge.