AZI Volume 7 Chapter 6

"Ai…"

Standing within the catacomb's main chamber, Xu Tian Kun heaves a sigh, as she opens her red eyes.

"Ancestor Xu?"

Standing behind Xu Tian Kun is Hui Sang, and turning to her, the former says—

"According to my divination arts, the future looks rather bleak for our village."

"…Must we really leave?"

"Living here for well over 20 resets…-"

Shaking her head, Xu Tian Kun rearranges her words, and says—

"The peacefulness of this paradise that was given to us by Lord Tian She Zi may have dulled our combat senses; however, I believe our villagers to be much stronger than what they might seem on the surface."

Looking at Hui Sang with a determined gleam in her eyes, Xu Tian Kun adds—

"We shall use the Immortal's blood to baptize ourselves for the inevitable future."

Nodding her head, Hui Sang replies—

"Understood."

Thinking back to her divination results, Xu Tian Kun frowns, and says—

"The details related to my divination is difficult to put into words; however, I…- I think I may have seen a powerful figure standing with us."

"…?"

Blinking her eyes, Hui Sang asks—

"Is it the deity themself?"

"I'm unsure."

Waving her hand, Xu Tian Kun causes the lid of the stone casket to open by a slight amount, and from within it, an object flies out.

"Xù Zuò has been calling out to someone for a while now."

Looming a few inches above Xu Tian Kun's palm is a three feet sword with a taotie handguard. The handle of the weapon is wrapped in black cloth, and its pommel is styled as a ring.

Going further into detail on the weapon's appearance, its double-edged blade is white, while a dense black line runs down from its center to its tip; inscribed onto the black line are runes written in gold.

Seeing the weapon, Hui Sang asks—

"Is that not our deity's weapon?"

"Indeed. However, if it was calling out to our deity, the entirety of the ruins should be doing the same."

*…!* as Xu Zuo releases a humming sound, it trembles.

...…

"Uh?"

Snapping her eyes open, Yao Ying senses the object calling out to her more clearly than before.

"…?"

Looking around, Yao Ying sees Long Hua seated in lotus posture with his eyes closed.

"…"

Breathing in and out deeply, Yao Ying resumes her cultivation of the incantation.

...…

On the opposite side of the bridge—

"So, this is it?"

"What a number…"

Using their divine senses to scout out the Serpent Deity Village, the practitioners of the Ling Yuan family all had their eyes narrowed with a frown on their faces.

"Qing-xiong, Lin-xiong, what's the plan?"

"Hmm."

"…"

Being asked this by Su Xuan, Qing Ming Yang and Lin Yu Heng looks back behind them.

Numbers wise, there are over 120 Ling Yuan family practitioners, whereas the village—including the foreign weapon spirits, have a combined count that is well over five hundred.

"You all have spirit stones on hand?"

"Naturally."

Receiving mostly positive answers back, Qing Ming Yang says—

"I'm sure most of us are tired from walking around all day, so we'll head back into the forest, and rest a bit. The moment the sun rises, we'll launch an attack on that village. Make sure to use whatever resources that you have generously—whether that be pills or spirit stones, basically anything that can be used to replenish spirit Qi."

"…Aren't we a bit too outnumbered?"

"There's over 500 of them…"

Replies filled with doubts and hesitations would inevitably appear, and towards them, Lin Yu Heng says—

"So what? Compared to our individual strength, most of those weapon spirits aren't anything to be concerned about. They may be able to revive endlessly, but the moment they're sealed, they're utterly helpless. Do you recall the equipment that was given to us?"

Following Lin Yu Heng's words, Qing Ming Yang takes out a rope—formed of golden light, along with a talisman.

These are specialized tools that were created by the Ling Yuan family to capture, and to seal the weapon spirits of the Leng Bing Realm.

"Weapon spirit capturing ropes and sealing talismans. Their quantity isn't high, so we'll have to use them sparingly. Ideally, we use them on the more troublesome weapon spirits. In any case, here's the plan that I have in mind."

Storing the items away, and turning around, Qing Ming Yang points to the river, while continuing to explain—

"Some of us are able to use ice elemental divine arts, right? First, we'll lure the weapon spirits onto the bridge. From there, those of us with high offensive capabilities will bombard the bridge—destroying it. The moment those weapon spirits are in the waters, those with ice elemental divine arts are to step forward, and freeze the river. We should be able to thin out their numbers greatly with this."

"Un."

Nodding his head, Lin Yu Heng says—

"I'll be a part of the bridge demolition group. Once the river is frozen, use spirit stones to replenish yourselves. After that, we'll charge across the frozen terrains together. Those weapon spirits, they seem to hold this deity of theirs in high esteem. We should destroy that 15-meter statue first to drain them of their morale. If circumstances allow, I shall lead the statue destroying group as well."

Morale is a key part of war, and crippling the enemy side's spirit is an effective way to turn the tides of war in one's favor.

"Lin-xiong, I'll go with you to destroy that statue!"

"Me as well!"

"Count me in!"