Even Su Chen didnât expect for a plan he had thought up on the spot to have such great effect. He watched the situation develop with his spatial sense, quite surprised.
âWow, theyâre really going at it.â Su Chen casually reached out a hand and swiped through the air. A screen appeared in midair, showing the ongoing battle between the human commerce group and the Harpies. That way, Zhu Xianyao would be able to see the situation develop as well.
âOh? This ability is pretty cool. How did you get your hands on it?â Zhu Xianyao asked.
âOnce you understand the principles and apply them as part of a skill, you will be able to do it too,â Su Chen replied casually.
âI know about the principles. You mentioned that you were enlightened while fighting that sacrificial warrior. But you canât possibly have come up with a technique in such a short period of time, right?â Zhu Xianyao said, not understanding as she stared at the battle ongoing in the sky.
âThatâs where you donât understand. One technique gives birth to ten thousand. I am actually using Void Projection, but with my new understanding of spatial principles, I am able to reach out across space and visualize what is happening there. Well, you wouldnât understand even if I explained it to you. In any case, all you need to know is that these past few decades of research I have been doing has not necessarily yielded me powers that are already complete, but incomplete.â
It was true that Zhu Xianyao was a bit confused by Su Chenâs words, but he wasnât wrong.
What Su Chen cared about was never the power be had already obtained, but the progressive accumulation of power that he gained in the process.
Good preparation was the key to success. The current Su Chen was still in the process of preparation, so the fruits of his labor were still few and far between. However, as he continued his research, he would succeed more and more often. For instance, it had taken him a ton of effort to try and break into the Light Shaking Realm, but he had managed to figure out the way into the Spirit Burning Realm quite easily. This was because he had developed the Immaculate Cultivation Technique and the True Sporit Scripture a long time ago. As such, his consciousness power of 2000 units was a more than sufficient foundation.
For the same reason, he was able to improve Sumeru Void because of his powerful consciousness and his microscopic eye, as well as perceive some of the secrets regarding space itself.
To Su Chen, the knowledge he had accumulated over many years would only begin to manifest itself as strength after marinating for a number of years.
His ability to suddenly use this kind of technique was based off of this kind of broad foundation.
The vantage point of the image was above the group of merchants. In it, Li Daohong and Holly Keen could be seen fighting one another with incredible vigor.
Li Daohong was at the peak of the Light Shaking Realm, only one step from reaching the Sporit Burning Realm. He was only held back by his deficient consciousness power, not Origin Energy; otherwise, he would have made his breakthrough a long time ago. This was even accounting for the fact that his bloodline made it incredibly easy for him to strengthen his consciousness. It would likely take him no more than three years to fully ascend.
Holly Keen, on the other hand, was a Fifth-Ring Arcana Master. In terms of strength, he was far inferior to Li Daohong, but he also had many men on his side.
Three Sixth-Ring Arcana Masters surrounding Holly Keen, at the same time defending him from Li Daohongâs attacks. Even so, they were being forced back by Li Daohong and found it hard to withstand his blows.
Li Daohong didnât hesitate to scorn his opponent. âHolly Keen, you are not my opponent. It is only because you are Harpy nobility that I am taking it easy on you. OtherwiseâŚâŚâ
He had gotten so used to being a fiend incarnate that he didnât bother trying to resolve the problem any longer, instead choosing to publicly deride his opponent. Even if what he said was technically correct, Holly Keen had no interest in listening. He began to roar, âAre you all just going to watch him attack me like this?â
The crowd of Harpy onlookers glanced at each other.
For a moment, there were some people who couldnât sit still any longer and were going to join the fight, but a voice suddenly spoke. âNo one make a move. This conflict is between their clans. It has nothing to do with us Harpies.â
As this voice spoke, a Harpy descended from the sky. He was clearly uncommon just by looking at him. He wore a sky-blue combat uniform and floated in midair, his blue hair rippling in the air like water. His appearance was quite handsome, and a number of Harpy females shrieked when he appeared.
âGeneral Jasper Sea! Itâs General Jasper Sea!â
âOne of the Origin Light Castleâs three great generals, Jasper Sea Horizon? I didnât expect him to be so handsome,â Su Chen chuckled.
Jasper Sea Horizon was a well-known general amongst the Harpies. This Eighth-Ring Arcana Master was also a seventh-tier Harpy General.
These tiers were used by the Harpies to judge an individualâs martial strength in order to make up for the deficit in physical strength. However, even a seventh-tier Harpy General wasnât much stronger than a human Blood Boiling Realm cultivator in terms of physical strength.
To the Harpies, on the other hand, that was quite an acceptable physique. At the very least, they might not be killed in one shot on the battlefield.
As soon as Jasper Sea Horizon appeared, the entire crowd began to cry out. Not many people were focused on the battle anymore.
On the other hand, the people currently involved in the battle immediately tensed up. Since a person with real authority had appeared, should they continue fighting or not?
Without a command otherwise, they could only harden their foreheads and continue to fight.
When Holly Keen saw that it was Jasper Sea Horizon who had arrived, he cursed angrily, âDamned Horizon, I knew it was you! Youâre always the one making trouble for me!â
Jasper Sea Horizon harrumphed. âYou charged into the human commercial groupâs territory without permission. That is already a serious crime. But now you ask the other Harpies to help you? Since I have forbidden others from interfering, your battle with Sixth Prince is a private matter and doesnât involve our two kingdoms. This way, you wonât be slapped with the crime of ruining diplomatic relations between our two countries. Is that not helping you?â
When he voiced his thought process aloud, everyone else around was speechless and couldnât say anything against him.
Even Li Daohong said, âGeneral Jasper Sea is right. This is a personal grudge between me and Holly Keen. It has nothing to do with either of our countries!â
In any case, he was the one with an advantage, so he had no problem turning the situation in that direction. That way, he wouldnât be in trouble for damaging diplomatic relations either, allowing him to make easy money.
Holly Keen frowned. âDo you think youâve won? I also haveâŚâŚâ
Before he even finished speaking, Li Daohong said, âOf course I wonât win. Why not consider this battle a tie?â
Everyone was taken aback by his words.
Only Su Chen understood what he was trying to do and chuckled. âThatâs interesting.â
Zhu Xianyao asked, âHow so?â
Su Chen replied, âLi Daohong does indeed have some talent. He knows that defeating Holly Keen here has no point. On the other hand, if he does win, he will have offended a large number of Harpies. Even though this person is arrogant and despotic, he is able to approach most situations with a very clear head.â
âBut wasnât he the one who was so quick to fight back in the first place?â
âThatâs because someone broke into his place and basically slapped him upside the head, causing him to lose face. Now that he has suppressed Holly Keen with his strength, he has regained that face. Proposing a draw is giving the opponent a way out as well. UnfortunatelyâŚâŚâ
Li Daohongâs calculations were quite good, but unfortunately he didnât understand Holly Keen well enough.
Li Daohong asking for a draw while suppressing Holly Keen had won him quite a bit of face, but to Holly Keen this was no different than losing. All of his face was now gone.
Holly Keen couldnât accept that kind of feeling either.
As such, Holly Keen rejected Li Daohongâs olive branch. âGet the hell out of here. Do I need you throw a game for me? Even if we do agree to a draw, it can only be after I gain the advantage. Giant Demon, come out!â
As he cried out, a massive metal puppet appeared out of nowhere.
This puppet was nearly a hundred twenty feet tall. It was equipped with metal wings on its back, but what supported it was still the Origin Formation installed inside. The wings werenât used for flight but for attacking.
As soon as the puppet appeared, it charged at Li Daohong, unleashing a fist and sending shockwaves everywhere. The bystanders only felt a majestic pressure wash over them. Su Chen was able to perceive that this fist strike was powerful enough to cause the fabric of space to ripple slightly.
Of course, this ripple was very faint.
At this point, he still was unclear what kind of strength could influence the fabric of space, but the amount of strength needed was absolutely not common. Even though this puppet was merely causing faint ripples, its might was already incredible.
As he watched what was happening on the battlefield closely, the fist shattered Li Daohongâs Distant Heaven Shield and slammed into Li Daohong himself.
Fortunately, Li Daohong also had a number of precious treasures on him. At the same time that the fist crashed into him, his body began to glow a faint golden color, stopping the fist in its tracks.
Even so, Li Daohongâs expression grew slightly uglier. âA battalion-tier puppet?â
Battalion-tier puppets were strong enough to deal with an entire battalion of soldiers. They were usually roughly equivalent in strength to a Spirit Burning Realm cultivator.
âHmph! Now do you know how strong I am?â Holly Keen chuckled.
He could do as he pleased not just because he was the only son of his clanâs leader, but also because he was a genius in the use of puppets.
He had liked studying them ever since he was a child, and enjoyed designing and constructing them. Sometimes, interests became innate gifts, so he had quite a bit of skill when it came to building these puppets. Otherwise, he wouldnât have tried to buy Patelocke for no reason.
Li Daohong was trying to think of how to deal with the sudden appearance of this puppet, which had startled him quite badly, but he discovered that the glow on the puppetâs body had become significantly fainter. Its next attack was not nearly as scary as before.
âSo not every one of itâs attacks is that powerful. This puppet is not actually at the garrison tier,â Li Daohong was able to confirm to himself.
Holly Keen said angrily, âHey, I havenât managed to complete this treasure yet. Every one of its attacks consumes a large amount of Origin Energy, and it takes a long time before it can fully recover. Otherwise, it would really be at the garrison tier.
He actually readily admitted the flaws of this puppet as his.
âSo what gives you the confidence to act so boldly?â Li Daohong was also growing angry, and streaks of light began to shoot forth from his palm like rain.
The Dream Beauty Bloodline specialized in consciousness control, attacks, and illusions. However, its consciousness control techniques were not useful in a battlefield and could only be used in a non-combat situation. Usually, in a fight they would resort to unleashing a storm of consciousness energy at their opponents.
These streaks of light were filled with boundless killing intent, each one harboring immense power. Even if he wasnât planning on actually killing his opponent, it was clear that he was not holding back or showing mercy.
Holly Keen, however, chuckled. âBecause I have more of them!â
He waved his hand and a large horde of puppets stormed out.
He really did have quite a large number of puppets of all different shapes, sizes, and types. They were all his creations. As for any puppets that were manufactured by someone else, Holly Keen only ever used them for research and never took them with him anywhere.
Su Chenâs first reaction to seeing this was, âThis guy definitely has a massive Origin Ring! I really want to take it for myself!â