: Powerful Reinforcements

Author: Gu Zhenren

: Powerful Reinforcements

Pigbristle Giantwood Mountain.

Cliffs densely covered with vines and shrubs.

A unique type of pine tree grows in these mountains, called the pigbristle pine. Its needles are thick like boar bristles, pale as frost, soft yet extremely tough.

Wild boars here often rub against these pine trees to scratch their itches.

Some of their bristles get scraped off, mix into the soil, and are gradually absorbed by the tree roots.

The Barbarian-Demon Camp was in a tough spot.

The demon cultivators wore lavish clothes but lacked armor; the barbarian cultivators had strong physiques, but their fighting skills were wild and primitive, making coordination difficult.

The boar horde surged like a tide, pouring from all directions, covering large swathes of the mountains, delivering heavy blows to the Barbarian-Demon Camp's lines.

Among the boars were many varieties.

There were Ironclad Boars, with hides like iron, strong defenses, bodies like small elephants, weighing over a thousand pounds.

There were also Purple Lightning Boars, agile and charged with electricity. When they dashed across the battlefield, their bristles flashed with lightning, their roars like thunder. Upon impact, they delivered severe electric shocks, paralyzing enemies on the spot, who were then trampled into pulp by the following horde.

And then the Bloodtusk Boars. Each had blood-red eyes, medium-sized but the most ferocious and savage, fighting without fear of death, utterly crazed!

The front lines of the Barbarian-Demon Camp were repeatedly breached, casualties mounted, and morale plummeted.

Their commander, Xu Dali, was busy chasing the beast-taming demon cultivator, Ju Bing.

Ju Bing's true form was a mountain boar; after successful cultivation, he took human form. He was burly but cunning.

Seeing Xu Dali charge at him, he kept retreating, stalling for time, directing the boar horde, aiming to wipe out the Barbarian-Demon Camp before engaging Xu Dali.

Just as Ju Bing was nearing his tactical goal, a Nascent Soul cultivator and a Golden Core cultivator revealed themselves at the battlefield's edge.

Their auras no longer concealed, they immediately caught the attention of Xu Dali and Ju Bing.

Both battling Nascent Soul-level cultivators showed intense wariness.

The next moment, the mysteriously appeared Nascent Soul cultivator cupped his hands and smiled, "I am Ding Pi, and this is my disciple, Jia Wan. We've come at the invitation of the two kingdoms' rulers, secretly joining the army. General Xu, allow us to lend you a hand."

Ju Bing's face changed dramatically, retreating more urgently.

But Xu Dali waved his hand, "Fellow cultivators, don't mind me. That one over there is thick-skinned and tough; he won't be dealt with quickly."

"Please, extend your aid and save my subordinates first!"

Nascent Soul cultivator Ding Pi nodded, "General Xu cares for his soldiers like his own children. Admirable."

Turning to his disciple, he said, "Little Wan, set up the pot."

Golden Core cultivator Jia Wan looked like a young boy, round-bodied with chubby cheeks. His eyes were clear and lively, full of curiosity.

Jia Wan carried a huge iron pot on his back, like a giant tortoise shell.

Hearing his master, he responded crisply, "Yes, Master!"

He reached over his shoulder, lifted the pot from his back over his head, and placed it in front of him.

Channeling his energy, he made the pot float mid-air.

Then, he pulled a coal stove from his storage pouch at his waist.

He lit the stove and placed the iron pot on it.

The stove blazed fiercely, soon turning the pot's bottom red-hot.

A strong aroma of food wafted out, quickly spreading across the battlefield.

Many barbarian and demon cultivators began to drool.

The feeling was quite strange.

They were in the midst of a fierce battle, yet at this life-or-death moment, their stomachs growled, and they felt an intense hunger.

Not just the Barbarian-Demon Camp; their opponents—the boars—also started drooling profusely from their mouths.

Jia Wan kept working, pulling out three more pots from his storage pouch.

Each pot was smaller than the last by two sizes.

He set up a frame, stacking the smaller pots into a tower shape.

Jia Wan began adding oil, water, various seasonings, spices, vegetables, and more.

"Master, it's almost ready. Just need your meat now." Jia Wan kept swallowing his saliva, making little slurping sounds.

Ding Pi laughed heartily, "The meat is here."

With that, he waved his hand, summoning a kitchen knife from his storage bracelet.

Gripping the knife, he made a slanting cut towards the battlefield.

A faint gleam of blade light flickered in the air and then vanished completely.

But the next moment, the boar horde erupted in agonized wails.

Hundreds of boars fell, greatly relieving the pressure on the Barbarian-Demon Camp's front line.

Ding Pi gestured again, and the boar corpses were drawn into the air, slowly flying towards him.

He made three more slashes with barely visible blade light. The boar corpses turned into slices of pork, skin and bones neatly separated.

Thousands of pork slices fell into the large iron pot.

The raw meat cooked in just a few breaths. The higher the boar's cultivation level in life, the longer its meat took to cook.

Yet, even Golden Core-level boar meat was fully cooked within thirty breaths, emitting an incredibly rich aroma.

Jia Wan couldn't wait any longer. He picked up his magical chopsticks, squatted by the pot, and started picking up pork slices, one after another, putting them into his mouth.

He ate over twenty slices before standing up with a sigh of satisfaction.

"A bit bland."

He took out some precious salt and sprinkled a dozen grains into the pot.

After eating another twenty slices, he nodded contentedly, "Master, the flavor is just right now."

Ding Pi made over a dozen more slashes, single-handedly slaughtering forty percent of the boar horde!

This time, it was Ju Bing's turn to see red; he couldn't hold back anymore.

Tangled up by Xu Dali, many of his tactics were unusable, leaving the boar horde vulnerable to the Nascent Soul-level assaults.

After all, boars' intelligence was far inferior to human cultivators'.

Human cultivators could coordinate, train in battle formations, while boars had great difficulty forming such arrays.

Without formations, it was hard to truly consolidate individual strengths.

After another half-cup of tea's time in battle, the boar horde was reduced to just twenty percent of its original size.

Ju Bing wailed, roaring commands for the horde to abandon the fight and retreat fully.

He himself reverted to his original form to cover the horde's retreat.

Xu Dali roared, "So you've come to this day!"

He felt vindicated, relying on his heavy armor to clash head-on with Ju Bing again.

But in his true form, Ju Bing was as large as a small hill, with strength hundreds of times greater than in human form.

Xu Dali was directly sent flying far away by Ju Bing's counterattack.

Ju Bing began his retreat.

Jia Wan shrieked, "Master, that boar's trying to escape! That's top-grade ingredients right there."

But Ding Pi waved at Ju Bing, "Boar King, heaven favors the sparing of life. I've slaughtered most of your horde today, which is undue. Go on, I won't attack you further."

Ju Bing paused, then immediately turned and fled.

Xu Dali tried to pursue but couldn't match Ju Bing's speed, reluctantly watching his figure disappear into the mountains.

"Fellow cultivator Ding Pi, you've let go of a huge military achievement."

Xu Dali was grateful to Ding Pi and Jia Wan but also felt a bit annoyed.

Ding Pi smiled, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Jia Wan huffed, "General Xu, I said that on purpose just now. We, master and disciple, have pretty much wiped out the vast majority of the boar horde."

"They hardly have any fighting power left now."

Xu Dali suddenly understood—Jia Wan had been bluffing earlier.

He quickly cupped his hands and publicly thanked the pair, "Although Ju Bing escaped, his strength as a beast tamer largely lies in his horde. With such heavy losses, it'll be hard for him to regain his peak strength anytime soon."

Ding Pi chuckled, "General Xu, the one you should really thank is Commander Du."

"He secretly sent us to follow you discreetly, providing covert support."

"And ordered us to act as we saw fit if we encountered the enemy."

Xu Dali looked surprised, "So it was Commander Du!?"

"I thought all four of our armies were just pawns probing the enemy's strength."

Ding Pi said, "In this great battle, we are all pawns; Commander Du is the player."

"From this encounter, it's clear Commander Du is the better strategist."

Xu Dali nodded, sighing with a complex expression.

After a moment's thought, he suddenly said, "So, the other three allied forces also have experts like you secretly protecting them?"

Ding Pi was taken aback, a bit surprised that Xu Dali only realized this now. He smiled faintly and nodded.

Dicebone Giantwood Mountain.

The Three Generals Camp was under repeated attacks by poison techniques, in dire straits.

Liu Er was covered in poisonous sores, weak and anxious, saying to Ning Zhuo, "Strategist, your mechanical army isn't afraid of these poison techniques. Now's the time for you to shine!"

Guan Hong chimed in, "Strategist, please deploy your troops quickly."

Zhang Hei grinned, encouraging, "Strategist, show them what you've got!"

The three generals used divine sense to urge Ning Zhuo repeatedly.

But Ning Zhuo shook his head, pale-faced, "Not advisable."

"I have a预感 that if I use the mechanical army and fight alone, the enemy will surely take advantage, and the outcome will be disastrous!"

Compared to the three generals, Ning Zhuo had fewer poisonous sores.

This was because his physical foundation was far less robust than theirs.

Ning Zhuo's预感 wasn't anything else—it was his mechanical ring.

He had long considered leading a force independently. Whenever he thought about acting on this idea, the mechanical ring on his finger would tighten sharply, without exception.

The warning was clear enough; Ning Zhuo wisely heeded it, staying within the battle formation no matter how tense the situation, with no intention of fighting outside.

Liu Er couldn't stand it anymore, his disgust for Ning Zhuo skyrocketing!

"Strategist, this army was created by you; you've invested so much money in it."

"If they all die, won't all your efforts be in vain?"

Ning Zhuo waved his hand, smiling, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Liu. A bit of money is no big deal. If necessary, I can easily provide three, five, even ten times more."

"Uh." Liu Er was speechless, his anger growing.

He was about to speak again when a clear stream flowed across the entire battlefield, significantly reducing the poisonous atmosphere.

"Who's there?!" Tu Ming's face changed dramatically, his venomous eyes darting to the sky above the battlefield.

A female cultivator slowly revealed herself.

She was slender with delicate features, her hair jet-black and styled in a high bun, adorned with an exquisite silver hairpin from which a red pearl dangled.

She wore plain white robes, a silver chain at her waist holding a delicate jade bottle, and green embroidered shoes on her feet.

Her expression was cool as she looked down at Tu Ming, "Shen Qinghe."

Tu Ming's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Shen Qinghe?!" Diao Ye and Wu Lan exclaimed in unison.

Tu Ming took a deep breath, "You're a cultivator from the Embroidery Kingdom. Why meddle in the mess within the Two Bet Kingdom?"

Shen Qinghe said impassively, "I've vowed to eliminate all poison cultivators under heaven, hence my invitation to join this battle. Tu Ming, come and meet your end."

She pointed a slender finger towards Tu Ming.

Healing Art—Hasty Resolution Finger.

A green light shot from her fingertip, emerald-like, seemingly slow but actually fast, reaching Tu Ming in an instant.

Tu Ming retreated swiftly while defending with all his might, activating nearly ten protective measures.

Useless!

The green light neutralized each defense effortlessly, as easy as drinking water.

The green light penetrated, planting itself on Tu Ming.

Tu Ming's expression changed drastically as he felt his poisonous cultivation power rapidly dissipating, horrified, "So it's the Verdant Spirit Poison-Cleansing Scripture!"

The power cultivated by this technique was too effective against poison cultivators.

So much so that any cultivator practicing it became a thorn in the side of all poison cultivators under heaven, to be eliminated at all costs.

But clearly, Shen Qinghe, a renowned healer from the Embroidery Kingdom with Nascent Soul-level cultivation, was not someone Tu Ming could handle.

The only path left for Tu Ming was to flee!

Tu Ming exerted all his effort to escape at top speed.

Shen Qinghe pursued closely.

The two quickly disappeared behind the mountains.

"Counterattack!"

"Kill, kill them all!"

Guan Hong and Zhang Hei roared almost simultaneously.

With the major Nascent Soul-level enemy gone, the Three Generals Camp launched a fierce counterattack.

Diao Ye and Wu Lan lost their will to fight, also trying to retreat.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Ning Zhuo tested and found his mechanical ring unresponsive, so he rushed out.

Mid-flight, he pulled out numerous mechanical puppets from his storage belt.

The puppets assembled into an army, quickly forming a battle formation.

Battle Formation—Lightbody Swiftwind Array!

The mechanical army's speed surged, quickly leaving the Three Generals Camp behind.

The Three Generals Camp, still in a barrel formation, needed to shift to a triangular arrow formation to increase speed and have any chance of pursuit.

Ning Zhuo's mechanical army charged towards Wu Lan.

Wu Lan dared not face them head-on, continuously retreating.

Ning Zhuo then plunged into the poison mist, allowing it to corrode many mechanical puppets.

Ning Zhuo's personal combat power soared rapidly!

Soon, he himself regained Golden Core-level strength.

With this boost, Ning Zhuo employed Five Elements spells, repeatedly posing serious threats to Wu Lan and Diao Ye!

Diao Ye hid within the poison mist, making it hard to locate for a while.

So Ning Zhuo focused on pursuing Wu Lan.

Wu Lan, hampered by various Five Elements spells, eventually found himself surrounded by mechanical puppets.

Numerous mechanical puppets attacked Wu Lan.

Wu Lan was skilled in offense but weak in defense, struggling to cope.

Many puppets were destroyed, and Wu Lan nearly broke free several times, but Ning Zhuo used Five Elements spells to force him back into the encirclement.

Meng Yehu!

Night Stab Back Illustration!

When the moment was ripe, Meng Yehu suddenly struck from behind, his Shadow Slaughter Claw piercing Wu Lan's heart.

Wu Lan fell!

(End of )