Chapter 375: If I Didn't Drive the Excavator Over, You Wouldn't Even Know My Intentions?

"Alliance Chief Lan, what are your thoughts on this?" Ji Wu asked, his expression weighed down by a rare solemnity. Ever since its founding, the Grand Jin Dynasty had never faced a military threat of such cataclysmic proportions; even the prior crisis in the Yunnan Region paled in comparison to the scale of the impending storm.

Ji Wu continued, posing the question: "This time, the greater part of the entire cultivation world's sects have allied to invade our Grand Jin. If we cannot hold the line... should we perhaps try to maneuver and delay them for a while...?"

"In the past, this Daoist would have agreed that Your Majesty's strategy was correct," Lan Mo replied. "But now..."

He paused before continuing: "The enemy is already beating upon our very gates. Does Your Majesty truly believe they will submissively wait around just to play a game of maneuvers with us? In the eyes of these gathered grand factions, crushing a mortal nation of warriors is no different than crushing an ant. Even the Yunnan Region would not dare face their vanguard head-on. Does Your Majesty honestly think they feel any need to negotiate with us?"

"So Alliance Chief Lan believes... they have absolutely no intention of making peace?" Ji Wu murmured. "Then why have they not launched a direct assault yet?"

"A coalition of so many factions possesses the advantage of overwhelming numbers, but it also makes command and coordination far more difficult," Lan Mo sneered. "For all we know, they are currently locked in debate over how to divide the treasures within Your Majesty's imperial palace once they have razed the Grand Jin Dynasty to the ground."

Though spoken half in jest, his words struck at a profound truth—the enemy had likely not yet unified their command structure, for otherwise, they would have seen no reason to grant the Grand Jin Dynasty this precious moment to breathe.

"According to the itinerary of Prince Nalan and his companions, they will soon arrive at the Taixi Sect. When that happens, it will be akin to venturing into the dragon's pool and the tiger's den," Lan Mo said serenely. "At that moment, they may require us to provide support from the flanks, and so, on our end..."

He leaned in and whispered a few confidential words into Ji Wu's ear.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side, Li Haoran stood before a gathered assembly of artifact masters and spoke: "As you all should know, these ripples can be converted into electronic signals. The spiritual energy we utilize can also be transformed into lightning and fire, while certain specialized techniques can revert lightning back into pure spiritual energy."

"Therefore," he said, holding up a remarkably thick jade piece that was significantly larger than a standard communication jade, "I am certain everyone finds this type of communication jade rather clumsy to use. However, this particular spiritual-light jade is perfectly suited for us to engrave specialized array patterns inside, endowing it with unique capabilities. For instance, when spiritual energy messages are jammed, it can transmit messages using our newly researched 'ripple' method, which will automatically convert back into a spiritual energy message once it enters an ordinary communication jade."

"If we can intercept and crack the unique identifiers of the enemy's spiritual energy communications, we might even be able to disguise ourselves as their commanders and issue orders after their communication network collapses," Li Haoran explained. "And I am pleased to inform you all that the fellow artifact masters from Half-City in the Morning Star Sea provided us with the refining method for this specific spiritual artifact. I suspect they frequently eavesdrop on other people's messages."

The crowd burst into a collective chuckle at the remark.

"So, even though our blueprint remains somewhat rudimentary, it is undoubtedly a viable solution," Li Haoran declared loudly. "If it is truly completed, it will mark the most innovative leap forward in the wartime history of our cultivation world!"

At the exact same time, within the borders of the Grand Jin Dynasty, fifteen armored battleship vessels set sail one after another. If anyone from the Yunnan Region had been present, they would have instantly recognized them as the armored battleships of the Gongshu family!

The very battleships that the Gongshu family had once used to utterly crush a mid-tier cultivation faction that had offended the upper realm of Yunnan had clearly been captured in large numbers by the Grand Jin after the Gongshu family suffered a bitter defeat in their war against them. Having been thoroughly repaired, they had once again been forged into mighty engines of war!

Although they had lost that past battle, when it came to the domain of armored battleships, no one in the entire cultivation world could yet surpass the Gongshu family!

Finally, deep within the Wuwei Daoist Alliance, inside the refining chamber where Jun Yangzi and a vast number of artifact masters were gathered, a wondrous round mirror hovered in mid-air. It was made of a material that was neither metal nor jade; peering closely into its interior, one could see a hazy green light filled with a profusion of falling flowers, patches of golden mist, and engravings of ancient seal scripts resembling tadpoles alongside various auspicious clouds, dragons, and strange birds, presenting a truly miraculous sight.

"It is complete!" every single artifact master cried out in sudden shock. "It is truly complete!"

...

And at that very moment, two streaks of sword-light descended almost instantaneously before the mountain gates of the Taixi Sect.

Owner Fang asked: "I wonder if I should start a live stream?"

"Start... a live stream?!"

Before Nalan Hongwu could even finish recovering from his utter dumbfoundedness, the two of them were already projected onto the large screen inside the shop.

One was an old man with hair and a beard as white as snow, while the other was a plain-looking young man dressed in a blue long robe.

"Dogs of the Taixi Sect, come out and meet your deaths this instant!" A furious roar shook the heavens and split the earth, causing the mountains to tremble! It felt as though the entire mountain gate of the Taixi Sect was about to collapse from the sheer vibration.

"Holy crap?!"

"Streaming this too?!"

"The owner is awesome!"

"They've already reached the Taixi Sect?!"

Almost instantaneously, the entire large screen was flooded with a barrage of bullet comments.

They actually dared to live stream a raid on the Taixi Sect?!

"Who goes there?!" Voices of shock and anger echoed from the mountain path. Before long, a massive crowd of Taixi Sect disciples rushed down, instantly surrounding the pair in dense layers.

"Who dares to trespass into our Taixi Sect?"

"Do you even know what kind of place this is?!"

"To dare hurl insults before the mountain gates of our Taixi Sect, you have some immense dog guts!"

"I wondered who it was, so it turns out to be you, brat!" Just then, a cold-faced young man clad in a white robe with golden patterns stepped forward. It was Feng Xi. He looked slightly surprised upon seeing Fang Qi, but a sneer quickly formed on his face. "It truly is a case of wearing out iron shoes in a fruitless search, only to find it by chance without any effort. To think you would actually march right here to deliver your own death!"

"Deliver my own death?" Owner Fang smiled faintly. "Have you mistaken something? It seems that if I don't drive an excavator over here, you won't even realize what I came for."

Nalan Hongwu's face twitched: "What on earth is an excavator?"

Feng Xi snorted coldly: "These two have shown disrespect to our sect before the mountain gates. Execute them on the spot!"

"Execute us on the spot?" Nalan Hongwu laughed, eyeing him askance. "Brat, aren't you overestimating yourself a bit too much? A mere pack of True Lake Realm cultivators thinks they can execute this old man?"

"A Martial Emperor Realm warrior?" Feng Xi sneered. "Do not think that just because you managed to deal with a few Divine Ocean Realm cultivators out in the world, you can look down upon our Taixi Sect. Any single Divine Ocean Realm cultivator from our Taixi Sect is not something the useless trash of your Grand Jin Dynasty can ever hope to compare with!"

With a grand sweep of his large sleeve, the previously clear sky instantly became obscured by dense, dark clouds. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth began to converge rapidly around his body. In the sky above, thunder rumbled furiously, sounding as though countless thunder chariots as heavy as Mount Tai were rolling across the thick shroud of dark clouds.

The might of heaven and earth! Feng Xi was merely an ordinary disciple under the seat of Venerable Du You, yet he could summon the might of heaven and earth with a casual wave of his hand!

"Are you shocked? Are you terrified?!" Feng Xi stood suspended high in the sky like a deity, looking down upon Nalan Hongwu. "Do not think a Martial Emperor Realm cultivator can judge our strength based on defeating a few Divine Ocean Realm cultivators outside! Otherwise, you will forever find reality beyond your comprehension!"

But in the next instant, a brilliant streak of silver light pointed directly toward the high heavens.

"Nine Heavenly Profound Thunder, transform into divine lightning! Splendid heavenly might, guided by the sword!"

Countless bolts of lightning, far more terrifying than anything seen moments before, began to gather above Owner Fang's head. Not only that, but even the heavenly thunder that Feng Xi had just coalesced with his spell was dragged toward the sky above Owner Fang by an inexplicable, titanic force!

An expression of absolute horror and utter bewilderment instantly froze onto Feng Xi's face: "!!??"