Dark clouds rolled in the sky, as if stained with ink.
This was the remaining force from the previous battle between Lei Qingyang and the Blood Shadow Cave Master.
The battle between Li Jiuqu and Mo Yecheng continued on.
At Lord Long’s command, nearly ten Nascent Soul-level cultivators went out together, all shouting challenges.
In Two Note Nation’s main camp, a female cultivator flew out.
She wore a mask, and her right arm was replaced by a mechanical arm. Her long gray‐white hair showed she was not young.
She swiftly ascended into the air, beneath the dark clouds, her robes fluttering, her visage like iron, and she challenged loudly: “You all come at me together!”
Around her, over a hundred flying mechanical fairies circled, continuously fluttering, protecting her at the center.
Facing such provocation, nearly ten Nascent Soul-level cultivators of the Thousand Peaks Forest Alliance halted in place, exchanging glances.
It was impossible to really charge in all at once!
The tactic of issuing challenges was like this: it was best to have one-on-one duels between opponents of equal level, for only such outcomes could shake morale and the spirit of the army.
If many fought against few, even if they won, the impact on morale and military spirit would be limited.
Conversely, if the few defeated the many, if the weak overcame the strong - for instance, a Golden Core triumphing over a Nascent Soul - the effect on morale would be even more dramatic and fierce.
Therefore, if these Nascent Soul cultivators really charged en masse, even if they defeated the Mechanism Princess, they would gain little benefit.
They all knew where their own advantages lay, and would not commit a large number of men against Shuangling. In this way, the numerical advantage of high-level cultivators would not be exploited at all!
After a brief exchange of glances, everyone communicated quickly through their spiritual senses.
“Cangyue Tribe, Lone Fang is here!” the blue-haired barbarian general shouted, and was pushed forward by the others, stepping up to confront Shuangling.
He dashed through the air, drew out the giant wolf-toothed club from his back, invoked spells, and condensed hundreds of phantom mountain wolves.
The mountain wolf pack charged fiercely at the mechanical fairies; the wolves bit while the fairies wielded their silks to execute strangulation.
Soon, the wolf pack suffered heavy losses, but the mechanical fairies retained their numbers.
Countless gazes were fixed on the confrontation between the two.
Just as before, the generals in Two Note Nation’s main camp were wary of Li Jiuqu, and many cultivators of the Thousand Peaks Forest Alliance were likewise cautious of Shuangling.
Shuangling - the Mechanism Princess!
Her fame was in no way weaker than Li Jiuqu’s, perhaps even stronger.
She was the flagship figure of Two Note Nation at the Nascent Soul stage, representing the honor of a cultivation realm!
Within the mechanical dragon dance, both Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong paid strong attention.
Ning Zhuo was even more concentrated, his eyes not blinking.
Although Shuangling and he had clashed in the past, as a renowned mechanical cultivator, Ning Zhuo, with a humble attitude, intended to learn well from Shuangling.
In the initial probe, Lone Fang was obviously no match, immediately presenting a clear weakness.
Shuangling’s brows slightly furrowed, yet she was not satisfied with this outcome.
She knew in her heart that her side had a serious disadvantage, and if the enemy truly leveraged their numerical advantage of Nascent Soul cultivators, it would have a grave impact on the entire battle.
Therefore, she had to exhibit even greater might to prompt other cultivators to join the fight with her.
The opportunity was right in front of her.
Once the others thought that Lone Fang could, on his own, engage in a war of attrition with Shuangling, then these onlookers would undoubtedly continue to issue challenges immediately, putting Two Note Nation’s main army in a dilemma.
So at the next moment, Shuangling snorted coldly and unleashed twenty suspended flying repeating crossbows.
The crossbows formed a formation on her right side, arranged neatly and squarely.
The next moment, the dark golden seal script on the crossbow box suddenly shone brightly.
“Departing Fire Arrow, release!”
The bowstrings trembled like a zither’s music; in a few breaths, each crossbow fired ten slender arrows.
The arrows interwove, forming bursts of arrow rain that shot into the back half of the wolf pack.
It was too fast - Lone Fang had only just begun to cast a defensive spell.
Under the arrow rain, the wolf pack quickly perished, leaving a large gap.
Lone Fang’s face turned ashen, his own safety in jeopardy; he swung his wolf-toothed club continuously, deflecting the numerous arrows shot at him, looking quite disheveled.
The arrow rain kept coming, and Lone Fang could only retreat continuously.
He cast defensive spells to safeguard himself, while continuously swinging his wolf-toothed club with both hands, repeatedly summoning phantom wolves.
But for every phantom wolf he released, that many were shot down by the arrows.
The mechanical fairies still encircled Shuangling, and did not pursue the advantage.
Lone Fang roared angrily, his form suddenly expanding by three degrees, summoning three head wolves of the Golden Core level.
The head wolves charged recklessly, their wolf claws treading the wind, and with continuous howls, they helped their master alleviate much of the pressure.
Only then did Lone Fang regain his footing.
Seeing this, Shuangling immediately unleashed twelve suspended Taixu bell guardians.
These bronze puppets all had human forms, with three heads and six arms, each holding a large bell.
The large bell was inverted, its opening facing upward, and its surface was inscribed with one complex star map after another.
Clang clang clang……
The six arms continuously waved, with fists and palms striking the bell, emitting a series of chimes.
Meanwhile, from the bell’s opening, waves of indigo air surged forth.
The air-waves, along with the bell sounds, swept through the surrounding area.
Not only did they envelop Lone Fang, but they also encompassed the remaining Nascent Soul cultivators.
The footing that Lone Fang had just stabilized collapsed once again in the bell chimes and air-waves, leaving him in a state of panic.
Most of the cultivators, aware of Shuangling’s strategy, snorted coldly, unwilling to be trapped, and retreated one after another.
Bi Tengyi, whose nature was strong-willed, was incited to anger: “Mechanism Princess, if you want to court your own death, then I, this old woman, will grant you that wish!”
Bi Tengyi snarled, and a vast expanse of vines extended from her body.
The cyan-green vines spiraled and coalesced in the high air, forming nine vine pythons that charged toward Shuangling.
Wherever the vine pythons moved, they scattered countless azure-scaled toxins.
After charging into the mechanical fairies’ defensive line, the azure-scaled toxins immediately infected them, causing the mechanical fairies to fall from the sky like dumplings.
Seeing the line waver, Shuangling took out two batches of mechanisms from her storage treasure.
The first batch consisted of twenty-four ice-fire knife mantises; on their forelimb blades, the left side emanated frost while the right burned with red flames.
The mechanical knife mantises were extremely agile, charging toward Lone Fang.
After joining the fray, they immediately slashed and killed Lone Fang’s three Golden Core head wolves, leaving him to retreat frantically, the situation critical.
The second batch was thirty-six Xuanji armor plates.
The armor plates spun rapidly before Shuangling, like a fan, forming a huge suction force.
The next moment, almost all the azure-scaled toxins were sucked onto the plates, dyeing them a green, oily hue.
The plates quickly assembled together, forming a giant shield.
The tortoise shell patterns on the giant shield shone with silvery light.
Mechanical Art - Xuan Turtle Heavenly Light Shield Return!
The next moment, a huge beam of light burst out violently from the shield’s surface, carrying with it all the concentrated azure-scaled toxins.
The light column was incredibly powerful, directly severing one of the vine pythons, aiming at Bi Tengyi.
Bi Tengyi’s expression changed dramatically; with a shriek, she took out her treasured vine staff and swung it forcefully before her.
In the next instant, from the tip of the vine staff, a gigantic man-eating demon flower grew frantically.
Its flower mouth gaped wide, like that of a giant beast, and it just so happened to swallow the entire light column.
After swallowing, the man-eating demon flower’s body swelled more than tenfold, and its purple-red demonic flesh began to turn green all over as it struggled to digest this astonishing blow.
The assembled giant shield reverted to its normal form, then disassembled once more, transforming into armor plates that guarded around Shuangling.
Shuangling extended her mechanical right arm and ejected twelve mechanical copper spheres inscribed with thunder patterns.
The copper spheres flew swiftly, with arcs of electric light swirling about them, interweaving into a net that formed an electric mesh.
Mechanism art - Electric Net, Insect Awakening!
The electric net enveloped Bi Tengyi.
Bi Tengyi continuously executed techniques, and all manner of spells that struck the electric net were negated by it.
Bi Tengyi retreated in a disheveled manner, not daring to test its might.
“No wonder she is the nation’s Nascent Soul luminary - her techniques are outstanding!” Gao Cuo, seeing this, sighed in his heart.
A deep, aged voice resounded within him: “The prospects of this grand battle are unclear; the Ginseng Whiskered Dragon King has not confirmed his participation, and yet we are besieging the enemy’s frontline main camp. You must know that in that main camp, Du Tiechuan is recuperating.”
“Gao Cuo, this is not a place to stay for long.”
“You should withdraw from here; now is a good opportunity!”
Gao Cuo nodded: “Old Sword is right, I am leaving.”
His expression became solemn, and with firm resolve, he advanced loudly, stepping up to Shuangling: “Mechanism Princess, I am Gao Cuo, here to receive the lesson of your superior moves!”
Seeing the third Nascent Soul cultivator attack, Shuangling was not alarmed but rather pleased; this demonstrated that she had exhibited enough menace to make the Thousand Peaks Forest Alliance side unable to hold back.
Gao Cuo’s form flickered, splitting into a hundred and ten phantom images that suddenly dispersed, attacking Shuangling from all directions.
The phantom images executed various spells - some genuine, some illusory, some strong, some weak.
For a moment, the battlefield was filled with multicolored sounds and lights, exceedingly gorgeous and varied.
This scene made Lin Bufan, who was watching from a hidden corner, have a slight change in expression; he felt as though he had seen it before, yet could not confirm.
Shuangling’s face darkened slightly.
Because this illusion was quite troublesome, she consecutively employed three methods, yet failed to see through it.
Once unable to pierce it, she had to defend fully, greatly increasing her consumption.
Old Sword, seeing that the situation was not good, immediately called out: “Gao Cuo, reserve some strength!”
Gao Cuo immediately retracted his strength in secret.
Then Shuangling’s spirit lifted, and she finally found a way to see through the illusion.
She uttered a low shout and took out a mechanism.
The mechanism, resembling an armillary sphere and named Star Dial, emitted the light of the stars, illuminating the surroundings.
Any false illusion quickly dissipated in the starlight.
In an instant, the dazzling barrage of spells on the field vanished, leaving only two or three solitary genuine spells as the true offensive.
Shuangling took a deep breath, fixed her gaze on Gao Cuo’s true body, and unleashed seven North Star swordsmen.
Her right arm fired seven tethering threads, which shot out like electricity, connecting precisely to the doll’s body.
Under the control of the threads, the North Star swordsmen immediately formed a Big Dipper Seven Stars formation and charged toward Gao Cuo.
Gao Cuo engaged with them and soon was defeated, his body drenched in blood.
Seeing his dire situation, the Demon Heart Cave Master immediately took action and joined the battlefield.
Gao Cuo gritted his teeth and, at the critical moment, activated a Void Escape Talisman, shuttling through the void with blood splattering in the air, and retreated from the battlefield.
The Demon Heart Cave Master cursed bitterly and had no choice but to reluctantly take his place to counter the onslaught of the North Star swordsmen.
The Demon Heart Cave Master was far more powerful than Gao Cuo, stirring his demonic arts, unleashing various demonic spells, and exchanging attack for attack with astonishing might.
He would rather sustain sword wounds than leave more than half of the seven North Star swordsmen intact.
The Mechanism Princess, seeing this, smiled faintly; for every swordman lost, she immediately supplemented the same number.
Seeing that the Demon Heart Cave Master’s fighting spirit was soaring and his offense was wild, she directly tossed out the mechanical Star Dial.
The Star Dial hung high, scattering starlight that shone on the mechanical dolls of the North Star swordsmen, causing their combat power to surge, their speed to greatly increase, and their sword edges to become even sharper.
The combat power of the seven mechanical figures surged simultaneously, greatly increasing the pressure on the Demon Heart Cave Master, who was suddenly put at a disadvantage.
“No wonder she is the Mechanism Princess!”
“Fighting one against four, she had already repelled Gao Cuo - his fate now uncertain.”
Many of the cultivators watching the battle focused their attention on Shuangling.
This princess of Two Note Nation displayed a formidable combat power, making her impossible to ignore.
Watching as she, with the strength of one, suppressed three cultivators, the Thousand Peaks Forest Allied forces had no choice but to dispatch additional Nascent Soul cultivators to encircle Shuangling.
One, two, three!
Six Nascent Soul-level cultivators all fought Shuangling.
With her own strength, Shuangling took on enemy forces six times as strong, thereby alleviating a considerable part of the pressure on Two Note Nation’s main army.
Zhao Xi exhaled a deep breath of relief and calmly dispatched Nascent Soul cultivators to confront the remaining enemy cultivators issuing challenges.
For a time, in the central zone of the two armies’ standoff, six or seven battle groups formed, each fighting one-on-one.
Li Jiuqu gained the advantage while Mo Yecheng barely held his ground.
Mechanism Princess Shuangling dominated the six Nascent Soul cultivators, her own formation remaining steadfast.
The other battle groups engaged in one-on-one melees, each with their own dazzling displays.
The warriors on both sides were left awestruck.
Within the mechanical dragon, both Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong were equally dazzled.
This kind of Nascent Soul-level combat opened their eyes, providing them with a grand visual feast.
Usually, battles between Nascent Souls were rarely seen.
But now, not only did they see it, they were overwhelmed by it!
For them, merely watching the battle was a rare opportunity to witness the demeanor of higher levels, clarify their own direction, and judge advantages and disadvantages more precisely.
Ning Zhuo’s eyes sparkled with brilliance as he exclaimed in awe, “So strong, truly so strong!”
“Is this the demeanor of a mechanical cultivator?”
“Fighting one against many, effortlessly. I can tell that Shuangling still has reserves!”
Sun Lingtong then analyzed, “Although the art of mechanisms is the culmination of a hundred arts, it is simply that mastering, refining, and perfecting it requires too much and the standards are too high.”
“Once truly cultivated, its combat power is remarkably over the standard!”
“A mechanical cultivator can form an army by himself; someone like Shuangling not only employs the art of mechanisms but also utilizes military tactics, leveraging the force of an army to obtain even greater leverage and stronger combat power.”
An ordinary cultivator in a duel can only display his inherent combat power or employ only a low leverage ratio.
But mechanical cultivators are different; the creation of mechanisms is costly and involves techniques such as refining, alchemy, formation setting, talisman making, and so on - simply the act of creation itself fully utilizes resources, leveraging tremendous combat power.
On these mechanical creations, mechanical cultivators can also work extensively, deploying the art of mechanisms, military strategy, and more.
Leverage upon leverage is not a simple addition but an exponential surge!
Battle opportunity!
Suddenly, Shuangling unleashed her power, and the knife mantises exploded, forming a deadly offensive.
Lone Fang was panic - stricken, already bearing severe injuries, and it looked as if he was about to perish.
Seeing this, Bi Tengyi no longer held back and dramatically executed her trump card move!
Divine Art - The Withering Bi-Lin Curse!
The verdant phosphorus fire, sparse and scattered, was of unparalleled power; wherever it reached, mechanical creations were destroyed, transforming into even more phosphorus fire.
Within the phosphorus fire, ghostly skeletal silhouettes appeared, with murderous intent and a morbid aura spreading madly.
The defensive line surrounding Shuangling immediately largely collapsed, threatening her life safety.
The alliance side’s spirit was greatly bolstered. This was the first offensive in the clash that truly threatened Shuangling!
Shuangling chuckled and said, “Come!”
Divine Art - Xuanji World Purification Wheel!
Three hundred and sixty specially made World-Purifying Lotus Platforms were released in an instant.
The bronze lotus platforms were vividly lifelike, with lotus petals carved with the “Expulsion of Evil” section from the Huangdi Neijing, and at the center of each platform was inlaid a Kunlun cold jade bead.
The next moment, from the bottom of the lotus platforms, cyan-white flames burst forth, and from the openings, three thousand six hundred Heavenly Physician golden needles were fired.
The flames and golden needles mixed and scattered, instantly dispersing the phosphorus fire, and then, riding the momentum, they struck, causing Bi Tengyi to let out a wailing, miserable scream and lose her life on the spot.
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