: Battle is Merely a Tool

Date: 2024-07-31 Author: Gu Zhenren

: Battle is Merely a Tool

"The three families are uniting to challenge Yuan Dasheng..." Ning Zhuo took this very seriously.

The enemy's strength was unclear, and Yuan Dasheng couldn't even use his full power.

Because of the rescue of Sun Lingtong, many of Yuan Dasheng's techniques had been exposed. For example, Shattering Sun Hand, Turning Back Grab, and also Righteous Bone, Golden and Firm.

Of course, the Immortal Talent aspect should still be secret. Normal people would assume it was due to excellent materials allowing Yuan Dasheng to resist the ghost flame burns.

This could also be inferred from the post-battle reactions of Meng Kui and the others.

If they had discovered the sentience or the Immortal Talent, they would have definitely launched a frantic city-wide search, not maintained this calm, observant state.

Even so, it was best not to reveal the Immortal Talent, Righteous Bone, Golden and Firm, on the Golden Blood Battle Ape - Dasheng again.

Ning Zhuo also considered that the Golden Blood Battle Ape's body was made from low-grade materials, so its performance couldn't be expected to improve much.

"How can I increase Yuan Dasheng's strength as much as possible?"

While pondering this, Ning Zhuo couldn't help but feel庆幸—thankfully, over the past ten-plus days, he had focused his efforts on the Cremation Prajna Spirit Unraveling Scripture.

"Use the Cremation Scripture to forge sentient mechanical components and enhance Yuan Dasheng's combat power!"

"This should be the way to break the deadlock."

"But why are the three families so confident they can challenge Yuan Dasheng?"

"The Netherworld Envoy, Qi Bai, has also appeared. So, in the three families' planning, they must be considering Qi Bai as well."

"The source of their confidence is probably the Preparation Room, right?"

In the Molten Immortal Palace, after the third room, there was a Preparation Room.

The Preparation Room contained many mechanical platforms and tools. By spending some spirit stones, one could repair the puppet bodies.

In the later two Preparation Rooms, spirit stones could also be used to purchase many low-grade materials for some modifications to the puppet bodies.

Humanity's strength lies in wisdom, and the field where wisdom is best applied is tools.

A fulcrum and a lever can allow a person to lift a weight far exceeding their own strength limit. This is the simplest mechanism, yet it possesses awe-inspiring power.

The Hundred Arts of Cultivation are about how to use various resources more reasonably and in a cultivation-appropriate manner. Among these arts, the Art of Mechanisms represents the pinnacle of tools.

Ning Zhuo's gaze was deep and thoughtful.

"The modification teams from the three families have been exploring the Immortal Palace and are now all at the peak of the third layer."

"Over these days, they have actively practiced the Art of Mechanisms, becoming extremely familiar with their puppet bodies and items like the Hanging Rings through extensive practice."

"Now, they plan to make good use of the Preparation Room, fully unleashing their ingenious ideas to erupt with powerful combat strength and overthrow Yuan Dasheng's suppression in one move."

Ning Zhuo's thinking was agile, his insight into the situation clear. With a little thought, he pinpointed the key point of the three families' joint operation.

It was the Preparation Room!

"The question now is, should I have Yuan Dasheng appear in the first three passes beforehand to block them?"

The three families' joint major operation actually had a fatal weakness.

If Yuan Dasheng intercepted them early, this group wouldn't even be able to enter the first Preparation Room.

However, this simplest, most brute-force answer was not the optimal solution to the problem!

"If I do this, once might be okay. But after two or three times, the three-family alliance would grow highly suspicious due to Yuan Dasheng's precise interceptions."

"If they consistently cannot break through, the three-family alliance might even cooperate with the City Lord's Manor!"

This was entirely possible.

On the route of entering the Immortal Palace via soul projection, the City Lord's Manor held the greatest advantage.

The three families united to compete with Meng Chong and the others but always remained at a disadvantage.

Meng Chong and the others dominated the various leaderboards (in their view), and the three-family alliance couldn't leverage their true numerical advantage because of Yuan Dasheng.

If Ning Zhuo suppressed them too much, driving the three-family alliance to despair, then change born from desperation would surely lead them to seek help from the City Lord's Manor.

Would the City Lord's Manor agree?

It was hard to say.

If entering the Immortal Palace via soul projection was the only route, Ning Zhuo felt the City Lord's Manor was unlikely to agree to cooperate.

But now, entering the Immortal Palace physically was also an option. On this route, the City Lord's Manor's competitiveness was very low, almost negligible.

The ones holding the advantage were the Zhou and Zheng families.

And the top position belonged to Zhu Xuanji. His previous contribution of three quasi-Golden Core level mechanical creations, such a grand gesture, allowed him to overtake everyone and become the current number one.

"For the City Lord's Manor, they need Meng Chong to progress faster, the better, to surpass Zhu Xuanji's progress!"

"Yuan Dasheng has repeatedly repelled Meng Chong, posing a significant obstacle. Therefore, joining forces to subdue Yuan Dasheng, scatter him, and spy on his internal mechanical structure would be very motivating for the City Lord's Manor."

"Even if Yuan Dasheng is later repaired by the Immortal Palace and redeployed into the trial passes, they would have obtained crucial intelligence, allowing them to defend and counter accordingly."

"So, the key point for the City Lord's Manor's decision-making is—after eliminating the ape mechanism, would the three-family alliance's advantage surpass Meng Chong's?"

If it would surpass, they wouldn't agree to cooperate.

If it wouldn't, they would most likely cooperate!

Currently, facing Meng Chong alone, Yuan Dasheng was already quite hard-pressed.

If the four major forces united, Yuan Dasheng would face a庞大队伍 led by Meng Chong, supported by other talents, with a total modification team人数超过一百.

Even if he brought in the Netherworld Envoy, Qi Bai, and不惜耗用 its last vestiges of sentience to fight, the result would likely be more defeats than victories.

"So, letting them enter the Preparation Room, allowing them full pre-battle preparation, and then having Yuan Dasheng appear is the correct approach?"

"More accurately, this battle cannot result in a crushing defeat for the three-family alliance. Although Yuan Dasheng wins, he must leave them with some false hope—the illusion that with just a bit more effort next time, they could defeat Yuan Dasheng."

If Yuan Dasheng appeared too strong, and the three-family alliance despaired, they would still contact the City Lord's Manor.

The City Lord's Manor, seeing how strong Yuan Dasheng actually was and feeling the pressure, would also be prompted towards a decision to cooperate with Meng Kui and Meng Chong.

Only by making the three-family alliance feel that they were *this close* to success would they not seek cooperation with the City Lord's Manor.

They would crave to defeat Yuan Dasheng themselves, while having the repaired Yuan Dasheng continue to obstruct Meng Chong.

"Only such a situation is most beneficial for me."

Ning Zhuo felt the pressure.

The complex situation dictated that he needed to pursue a complex outcome.

Yuan Dasheng losing? Not acceptable.

Yuan Dasheng winning overwhelmingly? Not acceptable.

It had to be a narrow victory,还得给三家联合一点虚假的希望. Only by achieving this would Ning Zhuo be the true winner of this contest.

"Battle is merely a type of action."

"A tool."

"Just like not long ago, when Zhou Zeshen proactively suggested a spar, a battle with me. He used the tool of battle to build friendship and improve relations with me."

"And the battle between Yuan Dasheng and the three-family alliance is a tool for me to maintain control over the Molten Immortal Palace!"

Ning Zhuo shared this news and his analysis of the situation with Sun Lingtong.

Sun Lingtong praised him and sighed with emotion: "Xiao Zhuo, your understanding of the various forces and your grasp of human psychology have surpassed mine. In this aspect, I'm becoming more and more assured."

Ning Zhuo modestly said: "Not at all, not at all. I still have many shortcomings."

Sun Lingtong said: "In that case, I'll also put in more effort recently, striving to unlock Qi Bai's storage pouch!"

After being wanted, Sun Lingtong stayed in one of the few remaining underground bases, transferring locations periodically.

His injuries had long since healed.

Usually, besides cultivating and exploring the Immortal Palace, he studied Qi Bai's storage pouch.

His only outing was when Ning Zhuo intervened in the black market; he risked appearing in the city to give orders to the leader of the Turtle Breath Gang.

In modern cultivation development, a cultivator's storage tools would have verification, defense, and self-destruction measures.

Back when Ning Zhuo killed the Three Ghosts of the Huang Family, he also pondered for a long time before opening the three storage pouches. A small ghost head flew out from one pouch, attempting to attack Ning Zhuo. Not being careless, and having prepared beforehand, Ning Zhuo directly destroyed the little ghost.

Qi Bai, as a disciple of a major demonic sect, had a storage pouch with high defensive specifications.

Sun Lingtong, only at the Foundation Establishment stage, had been working hard to crack Qi Bai's storage pouch. Although there was progress, it was very slow.

According to Ning Zhuo's speculation, since the pouch was so tightly guarded, it must be quite important to Qi Bai.

It likely contained many of Qi Bai's personal items.

These items, under the influence of the Cremation Prajna Spirit Unraveling Scripture, would all add sentience to the mechanical puppet, Qi Bai.

Ning Zhuo nodded: "If the Netherworld Envoy, Qi Bai, could also participate in this battle, I would be more confident."

"But don't take too many risks, Boss Sun."

"After Qi Bai's death, the Soul Devourer Sect has been completely silent, which is quite反常."

"It's very likely their people have already arrived."

Sun Lingtong knew the seriousness and nodded: "I understand!"

He showed a trace of gravity: "The Soul Devourer Sect's Hook Nose and Triangle Eyes are both imprisoned by the City Lord's Manor. I'm not worried about them—they are bait deliberately set by the City Lord's Manor."

"I'm more worried about Han Ming."

"After that battle, Han Ming never appeared. If she secretly made contact with the Soul Devourer Sect's people, the threat to us would be even greater."

"Sigh... we can only take one step at a time." Ning Zhuo sighed. Since taking control of the black market, he had been very attentive in collecting intelligence on this matter, but so far, there were no results.

A few days later, Ning Zhuo indeed received a summons to go to the Zhou family.

In an underground hall, the modification teams from the three families assembled in full.

The patriarchs of the three families appeared together, officially announcing the launch of a new joint operation!

"早就看那头机关猿猴不爽了 (I've long been sick of that mechanical ape)."

"We three families are united, and with a full five talents leading us, we will surely wipe away our shame."

"These days, my skill in the Art of Mechanisms has improved greatly; I am already far from what I was before!"

"Hahaha, then let's give it our all!"

Everyone交流热情 (exchanged words enthusiastically), morale was quite high.

The three patriarchs made the following arrangements: seal the underground hall for several days of special training. During this period, all modification team members would eat and live here,禁止随意外出 (forbidden from leaving casually).

After the meeting, Zhou Zeshen, with a smile on his face, proactively found Ning Zhuo: "Brother Ning, come with me. We need to集中讨论 (gather and discuss) the specific battle plan."

Ning Zhuo smiled slightly and initiated conversation: "Brother Zhou, I must thank you for the Rivet-Projecting Crossbow; it works very well."

Zhou Zeshen laughed heartily: "Next time we spar, I will definitely win the blueprint for your mechanical monkey from you."

"This way, please." Zhou Zeshen gestured with his arm.

Ning Zhuo: "Please."

(End of )