: Forcing Ning Zhuo to Hand It Over

Swordsmanship—Lotus Blossom Light!

Shuang Jing hovered mid-air, brandishing his treasured sword, unleashing streaks of sword light in mere moments.

The sword rays briefly solidified in the air, forming the shape of a lotus flower.

The sword-light lotus enveloped a Ginseng Dragon Whisker, then abruptly erupted, scattering sword rays in all directions.

Struck repeatedly by dozens of sword lights, the Ginseng Dragon Whisker, now riddled with wounds, could no longer hold on and snapped in two at the midsection.

Shuang Jing landed on the ground, his knees buckling, and half-knelt directly.

A Golden Core deputy immediately stepped in, slapping numerous sealing talismans to swiftly seal both sections of the Ginseng Dragon Whisker.

Another aide cleared a small platform atop the rubble, quickly set up tea and pastries, then helped Shuang Jing up: "General, it's time to rest."

"Mm." Shuang Jing stood and went to sit on the small platform, drinking tea and consuming spiritual food to recuperate.

Even on the battlefield, he maintained the demeanor of a noble scion.

"General, here's the latest intelligence." A subordinate presented a jade slip.

Shuang Jing projected his spiritual sense into it, his brow furrowing slightly: "Why is Liu Er still at the top? Since he claimed first place yesterday, he hasn't come down once."

"To push him off, I've gone all out, mobilizing almost all deputies to harvest Ginseng Dragon Whiskers together."

"But it seems it's still not enough?"

"There must be something fishy going on!"

Shuang Jing needed the top spot.

Not just him—many military commanders craved higher rankings.

The Merit Rankings updated every half day and were visible to the entire army, making it a key focus for competition and rivalry among officers.

The higher a commander's rank in their unit, the more recognition they naturally gained, boosting their unit's morale.

"The soldiers have shed their iron-flesh armor. After these days of rest, their combat strength is nearly fully restored."

"Looting spoils is just the prelude. The main event next is the rotation of various units around the frontline camp to sweep outposts and factions!"

"Morale is crucial. The higher the morale, the greater our army's combat effectiveness."

Having led troops for many days and experienced ambushes, charges across iron-flow plains, and more, Shuang Jing had gained considerable command experience and deeply understood the importance of morale.

"Most importantly, I need to demonstrate my value through the Merit Rankings."

"The higher my rank, the more support I can attract from the noble clans in the royal capital."

Compared to his military talent, Shuang Jing was more politically astute and seasoned.

He knew very well that maintaining the top spot on the Merit Rankings would surely bring him more support—not just in spirit stones and magical treasures, but also in troops and allies.

So, Shuang Jing took to the field himself, continuously harvesting Ginseng Dragon Whiskers and repeatedly challenging the top position.

But now, it seemed his efforts only kept him in second place, while Liu Er remained firmly in first.

"Someone, investigate thoroughly what's going on with this Liu Er from the Three Generals Camp."

No sooner had Shuang Jing given the order than a command arrived via flying message right before him.

It was from Princess Shuang Ling, the Artifice Princess.

Turns out, Shuang Ling had also noticed the Merit Rankings situation and directly ordered Shuang Jing to investigate personally.

"If I go investigate, who will harvest the Ginseng Dragon Whiskers? I might not even hold onto second place."

Shuang Jing was reluctant, but he had no choice—Shuang Ling was his aunt. Though both were Nascent Soul level cultivators, Shuang Ling, known as the Artifice Princess, held a much higher status than him.

Shuang Jing had to grit his teeth and take two or three others, concealing their presence, to sneak near Liu Er and Zhang Hei.

"Where's Ning Zhuo?" Shuang Jing found it odd, only spotting the two Golden Core cultivators, Liu and Zhang.

He could guess why Guan Hong wasn't there.

The Three Generals Camp couldn't be left unattended, and since the soldiers were now active, maintaining combat strength required low-intensity training.

Shuang Jing's confusion remained unresolved as his attention was immediately captured by the ongoing battle.

Liu Er and Zhang Hei launched an attack on a Ginseng Dragon Whisker.

Liu Er, holding his Profound Yellow Sword and bolstered with various defensive spells, charged forward—to take the hits.

The Ginseng Dragon Whisker, lacking much intelligence, instinctively targeted the nearest and strongest presence as its opponent.

Thud, thud, thud.

Each strike, whether a whip or a pound, sounded like muffled thunder, stirring up dust and sending soil and stones flying.

Liu Er occasionally dodged but often took the blows head-on. At this moment, he fully held the Ginseng Dragon Whisker's attention.

Seizing this opportunity, Zhang Hei, from his storage belt, produced a set of Rolling Thunder Sphere Cages.

The sphere cages nested within each other, varying in size, and upon flying into the air, separated into seven, rolling onto the ground.

The sphere cages flickered with electric light, moving faster and faster, circling the Ginseng Dragon Whisker, darting around.

A glint flashed in Shuang Jing's eyes as he recognized: "Those spherical contraptions are drawing an array formation."

Wherever the sphere cages rolled, they left trails of electric marks.

These marks interconnected, soon forming a complete array.

The sphere cages began to emit intense electric light, with the smallest and most agile one as the array core, three slightly larger ones as the array eyes, and the three largest as the array feet. Combined with the inscribed patterns, they formed a Static Burr Array.

Countless electric lights condensed into fine needle-like shapes, piercing the Ginseng Dragon Whisker.

The杀伤力 of these electric lights was very weak; the Ginseng Dragon Whisker ignored them, continuing to pummel Liu Er.

However, the electric energy accumulated within the Ginseng Dragon Whisker, interfering with its every movement, causing increasing paralysis and deformation in its actions.

Liu Er's pressure dropped sharply.

Zhang Hei then took out a Rooting Earth Drill Hammer and deployed it on the ground.

This hammer-shaped mechanical construct immediately burrowed underground, swiftly approaching the Ginseng Dragon Whisker.

Zhang Hei also released the Golden Scale Sawing Serpent.

The latter moved extremely fast, like a gleaming golden thread, and in a blink, also钻到地下去了.

The Golden Scale Sawing Serpent was incredibly agile, completely unlike the clumsiness of the Rooting Earth Drill Hammer, quickly closing in on the Ginseng Dragon Whisker.

The Rooting Earth Drill Hammer stopped halfway, about three meters from the Ginseng Dragon Whisker.

Multiple wooden rods extended from the hammer body, stretching out to embed into the surrounding rubble for stabilization.

On the hammerhead, a small hole opened.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The next moment, iron nails shot out from the hole.

Each nail was about the length and thickness of a human finger, moving at high speed, inscribed with three types of talismans that made them exceptionally sharp.

The nails consecutively struck the Ginseng Dragon Whisker,钻入体内, and moved to fixed positions.

When the number of nails reached over fifty, the interference they caused to the Ginseng Dragon Whisker became visibly apparent.

Originally, each of the Ginseng Dragon Whisker's strikes was natural and fluid, its body snakelike or willow-like. But now, it seemed stuck, each joint frozen, its movements jerky and halting.

The Golden Scale Sawing Serpent took advantage, coiling around the base.

Its scales stood on end, continuously切割, burrowing deep rapidly.

Using his spiritual sense, Shuang Jing observed in astonishment: the Golden Scale Sawing Serpent moved like a golden thread, circling the Ginseng Dragon Whisker's root dozens of times in a very short period, easily锯断 a thick Ginseng Dragon Whisker!

Losing its support, the Ginseng Dragon Whisker, with its violent movements, immediately toppled into the stone pile.

Now in a frenzy, it no longer focused on Liu Er but attacked every threat it perceived.

The Rooting Earth Drill Hammer was quickly destroyed, and five of the Rolling Thunder Sphere Cages were smashed, leaving only the two smallest as escapees.

As for the Golden Scale Sawing Serpent, it had long钻入地下更深, avoiding the disaster.

The Ginseng Dragon Whisker's frenzy didn't last long.

The iron nails and electric needles within its body continued to exert their effects.

Soon, the Ginseng Dragon Whisker lay trembling in the rubble pile, constantly convulsing.

Liu Er let out a heavy breath, stepped forward, applied sealing talismans, and collected it.

"That's it?" Shuang Jing stared wide-eyed.

Recalling his own battles with Ginseng Dragon Whiskers, they were at least ten times harder.

It wasn't that Shuang Jing's strength was inferior to Liu Er and Zhang Hei's; on the contrary, as a Nascent Soul level cultivator, his cultivation and combat power far surpassed Liu, Guan, and Zhang's.

Unless the trio leveraged their army for more combat power, they'd stand a chance.

The difficulty lay in Shuang Jing having to preserve the Ginseng Dragon Whisker's quality as much as possible, rather than focusing solely on attack.

The better the Ginseng Dragon Whisker's quality, the more merit he could gain.

But as a Nascent Soul level, many of his powerful techniques lacked precision, forcing him to rely on swordsmanship to achieve this.

Scouring the battlefield over the past couple of days had indeed trained his sword skills considerably.

As a noble scion, cleaning up the battlefield—essentially a collection task—was quite a challenge for him; he wasn't accustomed to such chores.

"Liu Er just draws aggro. Though he's the strongest in cultivation, he's not the key."

"The crucial roles are played by those three mechanical constructs."

"They coordinate with each other, each highly effective against the Ginseng Dragon Whisker. In practice, they show strong countering effects."

"Among the three constructs, the best in quality is the golden serpent. But that's only at Golden Core level."

"As for the sphere cage and hammer, they're merely Foundation Establishment level."

Doing the math, Shuang Jing calculated that Liu Er and Zhang Hei's cost consumption was pitifully small. In this battle, they only lost six or seven Foundation Establishment level mechanisms.

"Oh, the scales on the golden serpent need replacing; they're heavily worn."

"Liu Er also expended a lot of法力, and his treasured sword shows wear."

"But that's still too little!"

"Zhang Hei didn't even make a move, just deployed mechanisms."

Shuang Jing felt a twinge of envy.

He compared this battle to his own efforts.

He had to stay mentally tense, controlling sword light with precision to avoid excessive damage to the Ginseng Dragon Whisker.

After several battles, his法力消耗 wasn't much, but mentally he couldn't endure, needing tea and pastries to replenish his spiritual sense and refresh his spirit.

These spiritual foods cost money, after all.

Crucially, the Ginseng Dragon Whiskers severed by his sword energy didn't have as good a appearance as the one Liu Er harvested.

In such matters, the weaker the attack that takes down the Ginseng Dragon Whisker, the better.

Liu Er and Zhang Hei's offensive was just that—weak yet恰到好处!

In fact, Liu Er didn't even attack, just took hits.

"Third Brother, you take the next one." Liu Er grimaced in pain, covered in bruises, applying healing spells to himself as he spoke.

Zhang Hei grunted in acknowledgment, feeling downcast.

Compared to staying in camp training troops, he originally preferred going out to fight.

But this method of combat didn't interest him at all—just taking hits.

Yet, following the combat流程 designed by Ning Zhuo, their gains were maximized!

The top spot on the Merit Rankings was the best proof.

Overhearing Liu and Zhang's conversation, Shuang Jing's heart stirred again: "So, Liu and Zhang teaming up is just taking turns being live targets."

"Liu, Guan, and Zhang are three rough fellows; where would they understand mechanics?"

"It must be that Ning Zhuo behind this!"

"Well done, I underestimated you. Though I knew you were good with mechanical puppets, I never imagined you had such ingenious mechanical ideas."

"Could it be that you specialize in mechanics?"

The blame lay in Ning Zhuo's dazzling performance in Five Elements spells.

Even now, having guessed the truth, Shuang Jing immediately doubted himself: "Unlikely... If Ning Zhuo specialized in mechanics, how to explain his Five Elements spells?"

"With such mastery in Five Elements, why bother learning mechanics?"

Shuang Jing shook his head and slipped away quietly.

He quickly returned to the frontline camp to report personally to Shuang Ling.

Shuang Ling held the jade slip, reviewed the images within, then slowly opened her eyes.

Observing his aunt's expression, Shuang Jing saw a rare hint of strangeness and ventured: "Aunt, now that I've uncovered the secret of Liu Er holding the top spot, the next steps are straightforward."

"With your mechanical expertise, you could greatly improve upon Ning Zhuo's design to help me reach first place."

To his surprise, Shuang Ling shook her head, calmly stating: "I can't do it."

Shuang Jing was stunned, looking at his aunt in disbelief. He knew well that his aunt was one of the faces of the Two Notes Kingdom at the Nascent Soul level, proficient in mechanics, and proud—rarely admitting inadequacy.

Realizing, Shuang Jing sucked in a cold breath: "Could it be that Ning Zhuo is a prodigy unseen for generations? Even in his youth, his mechanical skill far surpasses yours?"

"How could that be?" Shuang Ling snorted coldly. "These three mechanical constructs are simple in structure; I understood them at a glance."

"The real difficulty isn't in the mechanisms themselves, but in the arrays and talismans on them."

"These arrays and talismans work in synergy, constructing three types of spells: Metal, Fire, and Earth."

"The reason these three constructs counter the Ginseng Dragon Whisker is essentially due to these three spells being exceptionally effective against it."

"You didn't see the trick because Ning Zhuo integrated these three spells into the mechanical constructs, forming mechanics."

Shuang Ling, the Artifice Princess, was far older than Ning Zhuo. The mechanical expertise accumulated over such a long cultivation period was not something Ning Zhuo could match at this stage.

She saw the essence at a glance.

Ning Zhuo's mechanical skill, at best, made Shuang Ling think that for his age, it was quite good. But compared to outstanding disciples of mechanical sects, there was still a significant gap.

However, the arrays and talismans Ning Zhuo incorporated into the mechanisms gave Shuang Ling pause.

"It seems this youngster is extremely proficient in Five Elements spells, having learned a wide variety. Hence, he could挑选出 spells that precisely counter the Ginseng Dragon Whisker at this moment."

"He also has some clever ideas, able to skillfully combine the selected spells using mechanics."

"His mastery of Five Elements spells at this age is unusual. I suspect he likely possesses some exceptional talent that helps him quickly grasp Five Elements spells."

Shuang Jing frowned: "But the Ning family excels in frost talismans."

By now, the scouts sent by Shuang Jing's side had gathered much intelligence on Ning Zhuo and the Ning family.

Shuang Ling shook her head: "That's not the point."

"I can't replicate these three mechanisms, nor do I have the mind to replicate them."

"I have more important military affairs to attend to."

"So, do you know what to do now?"

Shuang Jing was taken aback, then said: "I'll go to Ning Zhuo and ask to purchase his mechanical constructs."

"Difficult." Shuang Ling shook her head. "Ning Zhuo is quite youthful in temperament. As you said, he publicly refuted you in the tavern after framing Mu Lan. I also gave him a hard time at the auction."

"The likelihood of him agreeing is very small."

A gleam flashed in Shuang Jing's eyes: "Heh, Aunt, I understand."

"Ning Zhuo and the three generals Liu, Guan, and Zhang are outsiders."

"But we are of the Shuang surname."

"I'll go to the quartermaster and tell him that someone has created these three mechanisms. If popularized, they could help our army clear the battlefield faster, benefiting the overall situation. With the quartermaster pressuring him, Ning Zhuo will have no choice but to hand them over."

Shuang Ling finally nodded in satisfaction, waving her hand: "Go ahead and do it."

(End of )