Chapter 54: The Way to Break the Stalemate

“BOOM!”

“An unknown enemy is attempting to deduce your whereabouts. As the enemy’s strength does not exceed the True Immortal level, the deduction has failed. 10% of the clues the enemy possesses have been deducted, and the deduction difficulty has increased by 10%.”

“BOOM!”

…

Li Si watched as his Annihilation Domains popped one after another like bubbles. To him, this posed absolutely no threat; it even felt slightly amusing.

Finally, after his fifth Annihilation Domain vanished, everything quieted down. This silence signified two crucial things.

First: The enemy’s deduction abilities had clearly reached their limit.

Second: The cost of such continued deduction was proving too much for them to bear.

“If they can’t deduce my position, they can’t find the Floating Cloud Sect’s mountain gate. Excellent. We won this first round.”

Li Si smiled faintly in the dimness. Round two was about to begin. Thanks to the help of his good friend, Thousand-Eyes, he had roughly managed to lock onto three groups of enemies.

Analyzing their strength, the weakest bunch were those Black-Armored Warriors. They seemed more like bait – spread out over the hills searching wildly. All noise and bluster, but no real leads. There was absolutely zero chance of them getting lucky.

Put simply, if Li Si himself acted, or disciples like Xu Shen couldn’t resist striking, they would fall right into the trap. Best to ignore them entirely.

The next stronger group was stationed at that abandoned village downstream along the river. They were the ones attempting the deductions.

Finally, the most powerful presence resided inside that small town further downstream. Far too strong. A streak of bloody light traveled from over three miles away, arriving instantly. Facing such power? Li Si knew he wouldn’t stand a chance. Approaching meant instant defeat, kneeling and submitting on sight.

So, how could this deadlock be broken?

Li Si thought carefully for a whole second, then shook his head.

The first wave, the Black-Armored Warriors? Absolutely off-limits. Moving against them would betray their location.

The second wave, the Evil God Cult priests or whatever they were? Not easily touched either. Engaging them risked being swarmed and beaten to death.

And that bizarre entity guarding the town? Forget it. Even getting close was out of the question.

This time, their tactics were laid out crystal clear: A major commander holding position, a heavy encirclement force, and small squads sweeping the area. They had all the time in the world. The moment the Floating Cloud Sect dared show itself? Doom followed.

They could search indefinitely. But the Floating Cloud Sect disciples couldn’t hold out forever. Food supplies were sufficient, but fresh water would last only half a month.

Without water, the Great Soul-Returning Broth couldn’t be brewed. Without the broth, magic power couldn’t be replenished. Without magic power, the concealment Formation Array couldn’t be sustained. Exposure was only a matter of time.

“So,” Li Si thought, “How about flipping this on its head?” His gaze drifted upstream along the river. What had provoked the Evil God Cult into this frenzy in the first place?

The answer was simple.

He had gotten near a village under construction. The Evil God Idol inside had detected him, unleashing its Evil God gaze upon him. In the ensuing chaos, he’d somehow… wiped out the whole village.

Logically speaking, that was how it went down.

What if, soon, Li Si found another such village? Purposefully, provocatively got close to it? Then, within minutes, he could replicate the same ‘Idol Massacre’!

What would the Evil God’s reaction be then? How would the Evil God Cult respond?

Pull this off two or three times, and the siege around the Floating Cloud Sect would dissolve on its own. Diversion strategy – ancient wisdom from their ancestors.

As this thought crystalized, Li Si had his answer.

“Yet,” he cautioned himself, “before acting, I absolutely need to strengthen and upgrade two key Dao Techniques. To handle unexpected dangers.”

He pondered the vision granted by the Thousand-Eyes Mask – those Black-Armored Warriors sparked uneasy thoughts. Logically, even if Cultivators were desperate fugitives, how could mere mortals dare hunt them? That contradiction screamed trouble.

Further, the total number of Black-Armored Warriors deployed couldn’t exceed five hundred. Wasn’t that… suspiciously low? Were they skimping on payroll, or did they simply disdain the Cultivators?

The obvious answer lay in the warriors’ gear. Their black armor was strikingly peculiar. Even viewing it through the Thousand-Eyes mask, Li Si sensed a distinct aura of suppression – suppression of what?

Clearly, it was meant to suppress Dao Techniques.

Li Si dreaded imagining unleashing a Demon Slaying Thorn… only for an ordinary Black-Armored Warrior to remain unharmed.

He couldn’t bear imagining ten powerful Black-Armored Warriors forming a battle formation, utterly ignoring his Evil-Warding Aura, and physically pinning him down, helpless.

Terrifying! Utterly pants-wetting terror!

In this world, turned playground for Evil Gods, Cultivators being toyed with wasn’t without reason. Over-reliance on magical techniques could lead to catastrophic defeat.

“I need physical offense!” Li Si concluded. This train of thought recalled a Divine Ability he’d looted earlier.

[Demon Soldier Command].

This Divine Ability was incomplete, but consuming ten portions of White Fortune could refine it into the Divine Ability [Swordmaster Control]. But right now, that was out of the question.

Alternative: Use one portion of Black Fortune to cleanse [Demon Soldier Command] into the Dao Technique [Lord of Hundred Weapons].

[Lord of Hundred Weapons: Primary Dao Technique]

[Consumes 30 Magic Power. Can instantly seize control over one mundane weapon within range. Melts it into its most advantageous weapon form and commands it to actively attack its former wielder. Effective range: 300 meters.]

[Note: Can also be used in conjunction with the Artifact-Control Incantation for enhanced effects under certain conditions.]

—

“Now that’s the Lord of Hundred Weapons! Whether for sneak attacks or direct assaults, it’s golden! Especially with the built-in disarming effect.” Li Si couldn’t help but admire. Being at the Foundation Building stage further boosted the effective range of Dao Techniques and Divine Abilities to 300 meters, making this one invaluable.

As per his habit, he first pumped it with Gray Fortune, reinforcing it seven times consecutively to its maximum potential.

[Lord of Hundred Weapons: Advanced Dao Technique]

[Consumes 180 Magic Power. Can instantly seize control over seven mundane weapons within range. Melt them into their most advantageous weapon forms and command them to actively attack their former wielders. Maximum range: 300 meters.]

[Note: Can also be used in conjunction with the Artifact-Control Incantation for enhanced effects.]

—

“Huh? Still mundane weapons only?” Li Si was slightly let down. Controlling mundane iron was one thing; controlling magic artifacts was the real prize. This Dao Technique seemed inherently limiting.

Hesitating briefly, Li Si decided to push further. Overwhelming numbers of mundane weapons could be useful too. His current resources amounted to roughly 423 bundles of White Fate Firewood.

Converted, that’d only be four portions of White Fortune, or decomposed further: 423 portions of Black Fortune, or a staggering 42,300 portions of Gray Fortune. Mining his ‘first bucket of gold’ still felt a billion points short… But finally, some scope for controlled splurging existed.

His familiar ritual: Burn eight bundles of White Fate Firewood, yielding eight portions of Black Fortune. Then poured everything into upgrading the Dao Technique [Lord of Hundred Weapons] to Advanced Divine Ability level. The transformation was astonishing; even the name changed.

[Armsmaster Control: Advanced Divine Ability]

[Consumes 10,000 Magic Power. Can instantly seize control over one Superior Grade magic artifact and mobilize it for immediate combat. Maximum activation range: 500 meters. Control range for the seized artifact: 5,000 meters.]

[Grants additional Weapon Immunity Field. For the duration of one incense stick’s burning time (approx. 15 minutes), all attacks from opposing Inferior Grade magic artifacts and mundane weapons within a ten-zhang (approx. 33 meters) radius become ineffective.]

—

“HOLY SHT!” (Cao!)

Li Si was stunned, waves of possibilities crashing through his mind. The Divine Ability [Armsmaster Control] differed by only one word from [Swordmaster Control].

But the latter required ten portions of White Fortune to achieve and wasn’t guaranteed. Did this mean his current [Armsmaster Control] could eventually upgrade into [Swordmaster Control]?

The former could instantly seize a Superior Grade artifact. The latter would definitely be a flying sword’s nemesis!

But there was one glaring issue—

“What I goddamn needed was a way to physically pierce the Black Amors’ magic suppression! Lord of Hundred Weapons? Your name just misled me royally!”

Li Si felt deeply wronged! Resignedly, he checked his arsenal: He virtually had zero physical-offense Dao Techniques left… Wait! Maybe one could be salvaged?

“The Artifact-Control Incantation! Exactly! To crack those black armor suits, this Incantation is perfect! At a critical moment, I could even use it to hurl giant rocks and smash those Black-Armored Warriors back into the primordial ooze!”

No time for regrets. Full upgrade and strengthening service!

Another eight portions of Black Fortune invested.

[Artifact-Control Incantation: Advanced Divine Ability]

[Can remotely manipulate objects of various types and sizes within a 300-meter range, including but not limited to magic artifacts, mundane weapons. Magic Power consumption varies depending on object weight and manipulation complexity (100-500 Magic Power per second).]

[Upon casting, an Airflow Guidance Field automatically generates every ten seconds. This enhances the maneuverability of controlled objects by 50%. If maneuverability is sacrificed, base speed can be increased by 200%, and effective range extended by 500 meters.]

—

“Perfectly adequate!” Li Si beamed. Although mastering precision with the Artifact-Control Incantation needed practice, this was indeed the ultimate Divine Ability to crush those Black Armors.

With 500 Magic Power consumed, he could effortlessly fling a one-ton object! He wouldn’t need that much; a mere hundred kilograms launched with added velocity from the Airflow Guidance Field could splatter any Black-Armored Warrior like a bug.

Magic suppression? Meaningless. Physics? Inertia? Ever hear of those?

Wasting no further time, Li Si donned the Black Fog Cloak, pushed a small boat into the water, and started paddling rapidly upstream.

What?

Think he couldn’t paddle? Ha! Apply a low-power version of the Artifact-Control Incantation to the boat? He’d move faster than a galloping donkey…