Chapter 523: Golden-Scaled Saw-Toothed Viper

A valley.

"All soldiers, heed my command! Form the Iron Barrel Array!" Standing beneath the general's banner, Xu Dali activated a military formation.

The art of war: Speed is paramount!

With this formation's blessing, the speed of the entire Savage Demon Camp immediately doubled.

However, the time required to form the battle array did not decrease significantly. Many, unaccustomed to the sudden acceleration, even ran to incorrect positions, causing coordination errors.

"Just as the intelligence said, the Savage Demon Camp is the worst trained. Hahaha!"

"Brothers, strike hard!"

"If we don't eliminate these isolated armies today, they will gather and become our blades in the future."

Cultivators, primarily Savage Cultivators with Fiend Cultivators as support, frequently appeared in the forests, unleashing various spells to focus their attacks on the Savage Demon Camp.

Boulders the size of carriage wheels rolled down the mountainside, smashing into the soldiers of the Savage Demon Camp, causing bloody wounds on their heads. Tiny poison needles, like ox hairs, were impossible to guard against. From time to time, soldiers of the Savage Demon Camp would collapse to the ground, foaming at the mouth, convulsing, and dying.

Vines also suddenly shot out from the ground, instantly strangling the unsuspecting soldiers.

The Savage Demon Camp sacrificed the lives of hundreds of soldiers before finally forming the Iron Barrel Array.

The moment the battle array was successfully formed, the defense of the entire army greatly increased, turning their dangerous situation into safety.

An invisible and concealed carriage flew at high altitude.

The coachman, seeing the battle between the Savage Demon Camp and the native cultivators of the Thousand Peaks Forest below, immediately transmitted a spiritual message to the person inside the carriage: "My lord, our army is at a disadvantage below. Should we go down to assist?"

With the strength of the several cultivators on the carriage, their intervention would surely overturn the entire battlefield.

But Zhao Xi, the central figure, snorted coldly: "Xu Dali is useless. It's bad enough that the Savage Demon Camp is poorly trained. More importantly, he actually formed the Iron Barrel Array directly, becoming a sitting duck."

"Simply ridiculous!"

"If he had formed an offensive battle array, the enemy is just scattered individuals, not an army at all. How could they resist?"

"Xu Dali brought this situation upon himself. Why should we rescue him?"

"The most important thing now is for me to rush to the front-line camp and take charge of the situation."

"Marshal Du is severely injured and in seclusion. As the supervisor personally appointed by the King, I must go and preside over the overall situation as quickly as possible."

"There's a reason why these troops were eliminated."

"Once I reach the main camp, I can naturally make the main army take it seriously and dispatch troops to provide support. This is the kind of decision a commander should make. Let's go!"

The coachman was dismissive in his heart, but his face was filled with reverence: "Yes, my lord!"

Two Frontline Camps.

Ning Zhuo returned to his residence, climbed into the Mechanical Dragon, and busied himself with various materials around the three mechanical platforms.

On the Xuanyuan Nine Crafts Platform, pieces of blue lightning silver were quickly processed, transforming into flexible metallic silver threads.

Each silver thread was occasionally entwined with electric light.

Ning Zhuo put away the electric light silver threads and took out dragon scale gold.

He placed his palm on the Xuanyuan Nine Crafts Platform and continuously operated it. Pieces of dragon scale gold were all cut into incredibly sharp hook shapes. With each cut, the curvature and sharpness of the hook claws had to be just right.

After making several hundred pieces, Ning Zhuo inspected them while nodding, feeling very satisfied: "If I had processed these one by one, it would have taken at least three days and three nights, and the finished products would have been mostly flawed. How could they have such perfect quality?"

Ning Zhuo then took out a large pile of half-dead, half-alive beads.

"Chen Cha..."

Ning Zhuo's eyes flickered slightly, recalling the impression of the good-natured old man.

The half-dead, half-alive beads were Chen Cha's original creation. Based on the array collection of the White Scale Residence Earth, combined with his own experience and a flash of inspiration, he designed this mechanical component.

It was mainly used in joints.

Each spherical bead was divided into two sides, one black and one white. The black side had the character for "death" (死), and the white side had the character for "life" (活).

When the bead turned to the white "life" side, the joint would move freely. When the bead turned to the black "death" side, the joint would be locked accordingly.

There were also hidden connections between the beads. If a cultivator engraved array patterns on the main mechanical part, they could form one or more "life" arrays.

Back in Fire Persimmon Immortal City, the wooden beads Chen Cha provided to Ning Zhuo were of too low a grade. The spherical beads Ning Zhuo was using now were specially crafted by him, reaching the Golden Core level.

Ning Zhuo worked hard, using these half-dead, half-alive beads as the foundation, entwining and pulling them with electric light silver threads to build a serpentine body woven with a metal network. Afterward, he covered the metal grid with scales made of dragon scale gold.

In this way, the雏形 (chú xíng - embryonic form, prototype) of a mechanical creation was formed.

Next, Ning Zhuo used his spiritual sense, magic power, and mechanical tools to process it further. For example, adding talismans and setting up arrays.

After more than an hour, a mechanical creation resembling a golden snake lay quietly on the surface of the mechanical platform.

The mechanical beast: Golden Scale Strangling Serpent!

This mechanical snake was sparkling golden and very exquisite. Its body was covered with sharp, serrated scales. Its mouth was open, and a pair of hooked fangs could extend out.

Ning Zhuo tried to activate it and saw the Golden Scale Strangling Serpent winding and moving on the mechanical platform, its movements flexible, fluid, and quite natural.

Ning Zhuo then took out an iron tree stump.

The Golden Scale Strangling Serpent suddenly darted out, so fast that it left a golden afterimage in Ning Zhuo's vision.

Its body extended and wrapped around the iron tree stump.

Mechanical art: Golden Scale Strangling Kill!

Ning Zhuo activated this self-created mechanical art. The scales of the Golden Scale Strangling Serpent stood upright, plunging into the iron tree stump.

Each scale spun rapidly, cutting directly into the interior of the iron tree as if slicing tofu.

As the Golden Scale Strangling Serpent coiled tighter and tighter, the iron tree stump, as thick as a washbasin, was effortlessly cut into two sections, offering no resistance.

"Excellent, very good."

Ning Zhuo's eyes lit up: "Next is actual combat, drawing from the experience to create the staff head."

"Only when the subsequent work on the staff head is completed will this Golden Scale Strangling Serpent be considered completely finished."

Ning Zhuo did not stop.

Next, he had to design two other mechanical creations.

Because relying solely on the Golden Scale Strangling Serpent, this one mechanical creation, would obviously not be a match for the Ginseng Dragon Whisker and would be difficult to achieve results in actual combat.

Ning Zhuo stayed up all night. By the next morning, there were three new mechanical creations displayed before him.

In addition to the first Golden Scale Strangling Serpent, there was also a set of seven Rolling Lightning Sphere Cages and a Root-Drilling Hammer.

When Liu Er and Guan Hong found Ning Zhuo, Ning Zhuo showed them his results and briefly introduced them. Guan Hong did not understand mechanical arts, but he knew deeply that Ning Zhuo was not a simple person and immediately expressed his anticipation.

Liu Er sincerely praised: "Before meeting the strategist, I really couldn't imagine that there could be such a genius young man in the world."

"Strategist, you actually major in mechanical arts, and those five-element spells are just supplementary studies."

"Alas, if this secret is revealed, the number of astonished people will be countless."

Liu Er looked at Ning Zhuo solemnly: "Strategist, your future is truly limitless. Given time, it's very likely you'll be on the Young Masters List!"

Ning Zhuo immediately waved his hand, humbly stating that Liu Er's praise was undeserved: "The Young Masters List encompasses the entire cultivation world. How can I, a mere youth, be chosen for it?"

Guan Hong said: "From what I, Guan, have seen in my life, Strategist, you are the most promising person to reach the Young Masters List."

Deep underground, there is a Dragon King Temple.

The entrance to the temple is a stone gate. The stone gate is covered with traces of time, heavy and ancient.

Pushing open the stone gate, you enter the temple hall.

More than twenty giant pillars support the dome. The pillars are made of ancient wood that is ten thousand years old. Each pillar is inlaid with golden dragon scale patterns. The dragon heads are held high, and the dragon tails coil and twist, lifelike.

The light in the temple is dim, and the surrounding stone walls emit a faint yellow light.

The air is filled with a humid scent, mixed with moisture and the fragrance of mysterious medicinal herbs.

In the center of the temple hall is the main altar, about three zhang high. The altar is surrounded by a strong dragon aura.

A special statue of the Dragon King is enshrined on the altar.

It has no claws or scales, its dragon head is held high, and its dragon whiskers are spreading out, exactly in the likeness of the Ginseng Whisker Dragon King.

At this moment, the eyes of the Ginseng Whisker Dragon King statue are dim, and its aura is weak, revealing that its true form is in a very bad state.

Below the altar, there is a large incense table, on which three large incense sticks are burning. Each incense stick is as thick as a washbasin, and as tall as ten feet. The smoke that burns from them drifts slowly around the Dragon King statue, being slowly absorbed by it.

In addition to the large incense sticks, there are also many offerings.

Grandpa Long, as one of the temple priests, is organizing the sacrificial activities with the other four temple priests.

As the sacrifice deepened, the offerings were rapidly consumed, transforming into nutrients and power that were infused into the true form of the Ginseng Dragon, which was hidden somewhere unknown.

When the sacrifice paused, the temple priests sat cross-legged on the floor tiles, all striving to recover as much as possible, seizing every moment.

The heavy panting gradually disappeared, and their originally pale faces gradually regained a hint of color.

Performing sacrifices was not so simple and easy.

Even Grandpa Long felt extremely 힘들 (himdeul - difficult, tiring), more exhausted than his fierce battle in the ambush earlier.

At this moment, a flying message arrived, bringing the latest military intelligence.

The temple priests quickly projected their spiritual sense to read it. After reading, one of the old temple priests looked at Grandpa Long: "Ah Long, you should go back and preside over the battle."

"If you're not there, the people in the front-line camp will all run away."

"A few old guys like us are enough here."

Grandpa Long's face showed a difficult expression. He looked at the Dragon King statue and said with immense worry and concern: "Those outsiders are not worth dying for. My heart is only for the divine."

The old temple priest immediately replied: "Exactly for this reason, you should go back and preside over the overall situation. You need to lead the allied forces, intercept and encircle the armies of the two countries, and kill as many as possible!"

"Only in this way can we buy more time for our Lord to recuperate and recover!"

Grandpa Long gritted his teeth. After a moment of hesitation, he finally nodded slowly: "Understood, I will go back and preside over the overall situation."

He knelt and kowtowed, looking back every three steps, reluctantly leaving the Dragon King Temple.

After using the earth escape technique, his speed was much faster.

"Lu Hongtu is a cunning fellow. He's been buying popularity, not preventing people from going out at all, which has caused many of our high-level cultivators to be killed by military equipment while picking up spoils of war."

"Those Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts are also ill-intentioned, capturing our high-level cultivators to test the enemy's firepower for them."

"The most crucial one is the Old Monster in the Stone!"

"He hasn't appeared until now. What patience he has..."

Like Lu Hongtu, Grandpa Long also deeply understood that the Old Monster in the Stone was the most crucial point. As long as he didn't appear, the Ginseng Whisker Dragon King and Du Tiechuan would absolutely not fight with all their might.

Grandpa Long secretly returned to the military camp but did not immediately show up at the main tent for discussion. Instead, he found Young Master Sheng Xu.

"We have agreed to your previous offer," Grandpa Long said with a solemn expression.

To his surprise, Young Master Sheng Xu shook his head: "Times have changed, Grandpa Long."

"Now, my offer needs to be doubled."

"Hmm?!" Grandpa Long's eyes widened, and anger surged in his heart, "You're taking advantage of the fire to rob."

Young Master Sheng Xu smiled slightly: "My name is on the Young Masters List, and now both sides' Soul Transformation cultivators are severely injured. My intervention this time is very likely to change the final outcome of this great war. Therefore, I am absolutely worth this price!"

Grandpa Long shook his head: "That makes sense. But even if I wanted to pay, I don't have the ability. You know, you want cash. After all, the Thousand Peaks Forest Alliance is an alliance. Our Dragon King lineage alone cannot afford your compensation even if we empty our family fortune. After all, there are too many places where money is needed."

Young Master Sheng Xu already knew this outcome: "Don't worry, cough, I accept payment in treasures."

A glint flashed in Grandpa Long's eyes: "What do you want?"

Young Master Sheng Xu straightened his back slightly and slowly uttered four words: "Living Sea Dragon Spring."

Grandpa Long was so angry that he almost took action and flatly refused: "That's absolutely impossible!"

Two Frontline Camps.

A carriage descended from the sky and landed silently. Only after it landed did it withdraw its spell and gradually become visible.

The generals had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Supervisor Zhao Xi alight from the carriage, they all saluted.

Zhao Xi held the scepter representing his status, stood tall with his chest out, and scanned the surroundings. He only nodded slightly, his posture very high.

"I have already reported the previous battle. The King is very concerned. How is Marshal Du now?"

Immediately, a general reported that Du Tiechuan had entered deep seclusion, and the specific military affairs had been handed over to others to handle jointly.

Zhao Xi was inwardly pleased: "Well, it is the duty of a minister to labor for the country. I shall take on this heavy responsibility."

The generals looked at each other, but due to their status, they could only obey.

Zhao Xi immediately rushed to the Marshal's mansion, inquiring about the situation in the camp along the way.

The generals reported that almost the entire army had removed their iron plate armor, and they were actively recuperating, quickly recovering their condition. In three or four more days, there would be troops available for deployment and expedition.

During this time, it was mainly the Golden Core and Nascent Soul level generals who roamed the battlefield, performing cleanup work.

They also reported that many petty individuals from the Thousand Peaks Forest wanted to pick up spoils of war and were taught a lesson by the heavy military equipment in the army. Some died, some were injured, and there were many battle achievements.

Zhao Xi's heart was stirred, and he immediately asked about the spoils of war.

Someone took out a jade slip and handed it to Zhao Xi: "My lord, this is the complete record of the spoils of war captured so far."

Zhao Xi scanned it with his spiritual sense and found that there was also a battle merit ranking list within.

Ranked at the top was Liu Er.

He was instantly displeased: "A mere half-breed actually occupies the top position? What's wrong with the others?"

A general explained: "Supervisor, this Liu Er also just squeezed onto the list last night. Perhaps by noon today, when the list is re-ranked, he will drop."

Other generals echoed this, stating that it was an accident and that Liu Er had previously been ranked outside the top five.

Zhao Xi nodded slowly, but his heart became anxious: "This Liu Er is an outsider, with no power or influence, yet he can occupy the top spot. This means he has truly gained a lot."

"These spoils of war are all battle merits."

"I rushed here so hard, if I can't gain battle merits, how can I be worthy of my venture?"

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