Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 386 Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures

After calm reflection.

Everyone agreed with the judgment of Gangyuan Zhenjun and Xiao Chen.

The shrew was probably just bluffing; otherwise, it wouldn't have missed the opportunity.

Even so, the Thirty-Six Turns Cold Smoke Golden Talisman itself has already formed an obstacle that cannot be ignored and is difficult to overcome.

If we cannot resolve this vast expanse of fog...

Then, the matter of breaking the formation was naturally out of the question.

However, dealing with a fifth-tier talisman is no easy task.

Especially since everyone is at the fourth level, with a significant gap in their cultivation levels, the difficulty has increased tenfold.

The human race, of course, would not give up easily just because things were difficult.

None of us are the type to back down when faced with difficulties; we always give it a try first.

"Fellow Daoists, please step back a moment and let me give it a try."

Crane Cry True Lord was the first to step forward, still holding the palm-leaf fan he had used to deal with the wall of fire.

His fan is truly extraordinary.

Although it looks plain at first glance, the green and yellow fan surface looks a bit old.

However, after the true essence was poured in, cloud-like spiritual patterns immediately lit up on the nine bamboo handles, and wisps of breeze were generated out of thin air to swirl and flow around them, causing the clothes to flutter.

Then, Crane Cry True Lord opened his mouth and exhaled a breath of pure air, which landed on the fan.

He then gave a soft shout: "Big!"

A pale white spiritual light suddenly burst forth from the palm-leaf fan.

When the light faded, the palm-leaf fan, which was originally of ordinary size, had now become as big as a millstone.

Crane Cry True Lord manifested his magical power, gripped the fan handle with his large hand, and waved it towards the mist in front of him.

Instantly, a fierce wind arose within a radius of dozens of miles, and a huge, light-white gust of air in the very center crashed directly into the dark blue mist.

The mist then churned violently, like boiling water being poured into hot oil.

It's clear that this is indeed a relatively rare and powerful wind-attribute treasure fan.

However, even though the fog in the middle was blown away by the strong wind, creating a not-so-large gap.

But the fog from both sides immediately rushed in, filling the gap in time.

This was repeated more than ten times, with five different positions.

Unfortunately, the results were all similar; they couldn't disperse the thick fog at all.

Moreover, given the current situation, unless a super storm spanning thousands of miles can penetrate the entire fog, it will be of no use.

Yunwo Zhenjun originally had some knowledge of wind magic.

However, upon seeing this situation, he immediately abandoned the idea of ​​trying it.

His minor spell was far less effective than Crane Cry True Lord's palm-leaf fan, so there was no need to waste his energy.

"If the wind isn't working, then we'll have to switch to fire."

Iron Fan True Monarch looked around and finally looked at Xiao Chen: "How about we ask Fellow Daoist Xiao to give it a try?"

In most cases, there are only two ways to quickly dispel fog.

The first method is to use wind to push the fog away from the target area.

The second method is to use fire to burn away the fog.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that very few people present were skilled in fire magic.

The only cultivator who can use fourth-order fire magic is Xiao Chen.

There's nothing we can do about it; the total number of fire spirit root cultivators in the entire Eastern Region is not large, and even fewer can advance to the Nascent Soul stage.

"Hiss~, I'll give it a try."

Xiao Chen felt a bit of pressure, but he didn't refuse.

As the saying goes, do your best and leave the rest to fate.

Regardless of whether we succeed in the end, we must not lose the courage to try.

If he takes action, there's no need for prior preparation.

He took a few steps closer to the mist, then raised his hand and waved: "Soaring Palm!"

There was no need to aim at all; the raging fire rushed straight into the fog.

"Snap! Crash! Crack!"

It was as if a large number of ice blocks were breaking at the same time in the mist, or as if countless ceramic cups and bowls were falling to the ground, making a variety of different sounds.

Upon closer inspection, there were indeed some ice crystals falling from the edge.

It turns out that the mist in front of me can not only obscure my divine sense, but also hides extremely strong ice spiritual power.

That's why it's called the Thirty-Six Turns 'Cold Smoke' Golden Talisman.

These icy spiritual energies are usually hidden in the mist. If someone recklessly ventures in, the cold energy will gradually invade their meridians and freeze their true essence.

Now, stimulated by Xiao Chen's raging fire, it has been exposed.

The ice crystals formed in the air and were then shattered one by one in the clash of spiritual energy.

"effective!"

Silver Hair True Lord's eyes lit up. As long as there was some loss, it meant that the fog could be cleared.

Sure enough, when the raging fire subsided, a section of the cold smoke in front of them was noticeably missing, as the icy spiritual energy and mist there had been completely evaporated.

This area is actually quite large, measuring twelve zhang deep, twenty-six zhang long, and twenty-three zhang wide.

The problem is that compared to its total area of ​​tens of thousands of miles, this shortfall is almost negligible.

Xiao Chen also changed positions and tried again a full ten times.

Unfortunately, no matter where you start, the results are all pretty much the same.

It appears that the fog is distributed very evenly, leaving no flaws.

Good news! Fire magic is indeed very effective against fog.

The bad news is that the fog contains a large amount of ice elemental energy, which can effectively suppress the effects of fire spells.

"Perhaps it's a problem with the attack method."

Crane Cry True Lord had a sudden inspiration and took out a talisman: "Let me try the Dawn Light Blazing Sun Talisman."

In the Sea of ​​Compassion, the Dawnblazing Sun Talisman is considered one of the oldest fire-type talismans.

It was originally designed to counter a magical secret technique, and it shone brightly when it first appeared, becoming famous for its special effects.

However, with the decline of the Black Abyss Demon Sect, fewer and fewer people continued to manufacture and use them.

Unexpectedly, the Chongzhen Temple still preserves a complete method of drawing.

Without further ado, True Monarch Crane Cry immediately manipulated his true essence to activate the talisman and threw it towards the edge of the mist.

Suddenly, the Dawnlight Blazing Sun Talisman spontaneously combusted in mid-air, transforming into a blazing fireball by the time it reached its destination.

As the talisman was burned to ashes, the flames not only did not weaken, but instead became even more intense.

Suddenly, a crimson-gold spiritual light burst forth from the very center. The light grew larger and more dazzling, and at the same time, it became increasingly hot.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a radius of a hundred miles was being stirred by an invisible force.

It began to flow slowly, gradually forming a huge vortex centered on the Dawnlight Blazing Sun Talisman.

It was clearly spiritual energy that formed a giant fireball nearly a hundred feet in size on the spot.

As the crimson-gold light shot into the sky, it even managed to dye the surrounding clouds red.

If viewed from a distance, it would almost look like the sun had set from the sky.

Indeed, the Xiaoguang Blazing Sun Talisman is famous for simulating the sun and can last for several hours, continuously dispelling the demonic and yin energies in the vicinity.

At this moment, True Lord Crane Cry took a liking to its enduring properties and wanted to use it to burn away the cold smoke.

The others immediately realized this as well.

They all opened their eyes wide and looked over with great anticipation.

However, although the giant fireball had clearly affected the distant clouds, the surrounding cold smoke remained almost completely still, only becoming slightly brighter.

Take a closer look.

Surprisingly, a layer of almost completely transparent ice crystals condensed on the surface of the mist at the edge.

No, it's less of an ice crystal layer and more like an extremely thin ice film.

But that thin, cicada-wing-like ice membrane blocked almost all the heat emitted by the Dawnlight Blazing Sun Talisman from the outside.

Despite the persistent high temperatures, there was also some damage.

But almost a full quarter of an hour passed before the fog retreated by less than two inches.

Without a doubt, this speed is far too slow.

"Those ice crystals are actually so heat-resistant?"

Crane Cry True Lord was somewhat dumbfounded.

He hadn't expected that the effect of the Xiaoguang Blazing Sun Talisman would be far inferior to that of the Soaring Sky Palm.

He had originally planned that if this stuff worked, he would reveal the secret formula and have everyone urgently produce a batch of Xiaoguang Lieyang Talismans.

However, judging from actual combat performance, ordinary fourth-tier fire-type talismans simply cannot achieve the same effect as the Soaring Palm.

Moreover, the difference between the two is not small.

Thinking of this, True Monarch Heming couldn't help but sigh: "Alas, judging by this efficiency, it seems unlikely that the fog will be burned off within the year."

"In comparison, it might be simpler to wait for the talisman's effect to disappear on its own."

Even a fifth-tier talisman will inevitably have a duration.

If you wait three to five months, the spell's effects will begin to diminish rapidly and completely dissipate within a few days.

But that would undoubtedly put us in a very passive position.

Although the human race's True Lords are all very patient and do not mind going into seclusion for a few months.

However, the problem is that, according to everyone's previous speculation, the sea creatures seem to be deliberately delaying the time and taking the opportunity to secretly prepare some kind of conspiracy.

If we just wait like this, it's equivalent to giving the other party plenty of time to prepare.

But when they wanted to do something, they didn't know where to start.

For a moment, everyone was awkwardly standing on the edge of the fog.

No matter how hard everyone racked their brains, no one could come up with a good solution.

"Well, since things have come to this, why don't we go back and rest for a bit?"

Seeing that half an hour had been wasted, Iron Fan Zhenjun directly suggested, "Continuing to guard here is not a solution."

"Everyone has expended a lot of true energy attacking the formation today."

"Why don't we go back and make some preparations first, and then discuss this further?"

Crucially, True Lord Silver Hair also suffered minor injuries and needs to return to the safe rear area as soon as possible to treat them and prevent his injuries from worsening.

"That's right, we have achieved our initial goal today and successfully obtained the array base."

Gangyuan Zhenjun also chimed in, "We should go back and rest. Perhaps once we relax, we'll have some inspiration."

The others naturally did not object, so they all returned to the great formation together.

For the next few days.

Iron Fan True Lord was with Silver Hair True Lord as he healed his wounds.

Xiao Chen went to check on the situation that same day and learned that the main problem was a small amount of demonic energy remaining in the body. Because the condition was mild and the situation was controlled in a timely manner, it did not cause any side effects; all that was needed was to patiently expel it completely.

It should be back to normal in a few days.

Gangyuan Zhenjun and Hanchuan Zhenjun were helping to study the array base that everyone had worked so hard to bring out.

They already had a considerable number of sea creature array bases in their possession.

At this point, they are trying to find a solution by comparing the two.

Xiao Chen also checked on the progress of the cracking process midway through.

However, the situation in this regard is not ideal. True Lord Gangyuan is not confident that he can quickly find the problem, and can only try to deduce the logic of the sea race's formation.

Significant progress may be made within half a month, or nothing may be achieved even after six months.

Everything depends on luck.

Based on Xiao Chen's experience, luck is often unreliable.

Especially in crucial matters, ultimately it depends on human effort.

But now, in addition to the problem of the formation, there is also fog blocking the way.

If either of these two major problems cannot be solved, the situation in Shallow Sea will have to be delayed indefinitely.

"what can we do about it?"

Xiao Chen racked his brains for a long time, and finally searched through all his storage bags.

Finally, a brilliant idea struck me: "That's it! Fight poison with poison!"

That thick, cold smoke covering thousands of miles was indeed very difficult to deal with, but there was something that was no less troublesome, and perhaps even more so.

This thing is called—Yang Fire Sha!

As long as the Yang Fire Qi can be guided to counteract the Cold Smoke, then the exceptionally powerful and domineering force within the Qi can be used to completely deplete its ice spiritual power.

To achieve this effect, only two conditions need to be met.

The first condition is to have enough Yang Fire Sha.

It just so happens that Xiao Chen's Binghuo Treasure Gourd contains a full half-full gourd.

He had spent a lot of time collecting this item after he accidentally discovered it, intending to prepare it for any eventuality.

Now it's finally come in handy.

The second condition is that there is a way to control the direction of the flow of evil energy to avoid unnecessary losses or even accidental injuries or deaths.

The main problem is that evil energy is also a dangerous thing.

Once released from the gourd, it's no longer under anyone's control.

We must prepare sufficiently strong measures in advance to ensure it doesn't run wild.

Regarding this, Xiao Chen recalled what he had seen and heard in the Cangran Secret Realm and the Witch Tomb.

By utilizing the power of formations, one can, to a certain extent, restrain the evil energy, limit its spread, or guide it to flow in a designated direction.

"Fellow Daoist Gang Yuan, come here for a moment, I've suddenly had a great idea!"

Xiao Chen immediately summoned Gang Yuan Zhenjun and revealed his plan in detail: "So, as long as you can find a way to create an array to restrict the evil energy..."

"Then we can clear away all this cold smoke outside directly."

"This shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?"

Of course, he did not reveal that he possessed evil energy, but only said that he had unexpectedly obtained the Bing Fire Treasure Gourd from the sea tribe.

It turned out that it was filled with malevolent energy.

This reason is perfectly valid, since the Binghuo Treasure Gourd did indeed come from a human traitor.

No one knows whether they hadn't had time to collect the evil energy yet, or whether they had already obtained it but Xiao Chen intercepted it.

However, after hearing the plan, Gangyuan Zhenjun remained silent for a moment.

Then he explained, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, you may have some misunderstandings about my abilities."

"Controlling evil energy is something that has never been done before."

"At least in the lineages of array formations that I know of, there is no related knowledge at all."

He paused.

He added, "Throughout history, few people have paid attention to evil spirits, and therefore there is no research experience in this area."

"The Tiangang Sect's limited knowledge of malevolent energy throughout history consists of only one method for avoiding malevolent energy and one secret formula for dispelling malevolent energy."

"To be honest, I've lived for hundreds of years and I've never even seen what evil energy looks like."

"I am truly powerless to offer any solutions to this problem."

Although malevolent energy is not particularly rare for a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

However, under normal circumstances, very few people would specifically travel to remote and desolate places with little spiritual energy just to see what evil energy looks like.

After all, they don't need this thing, so why waste their time and energy?

If you accidentally get any evil energy on yourself, it will be a troublesome matter.

In conclusion, True Lord Gangyuan had no way to control the evil energy.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, we should be cautious about this kind of thing."

The True Lord of Hanchuan even advised, "For us normal cultivators, evil energy is nothing but harm and no benefit."

"These kinds of demonic creatures, born from heaven and earth, have always only attracted the interest of those fearless demonic cultivators."

"Although I don't know what the sea creatures' intentions are in searching for the evil energy."

"But I suggest you treat this malevolent energy with caution and it's best not to try anything with it."

Han Chuan Zhenjun pursed his lips and continued, "What I'm about to say might be a little inappropriate, but I'll just say it this once."

“Fellow Daoist Xiao, many talented cultivators and heroes throughout history have noticed the powerful force contained within the baleful aura.”

"Many people have considered using evil energy to aid their spiritual practice."

"Some want to refine treasures, some want to comprehend magic, and some audacious individuals want to directly absorb the evil energy for their own use."

"But over the years, no one has ever been able to do any of that."

"Even the Nascent Soul Venerable who established the Cangran Secret Realm could only experiment on demonic beasts, and the current half-dead state can hardly be considered a success."

"I believe that with Fellow Daoist Xiao's talent, normal cultivation is enough for him to challenge for the position of Venerable."

"It's best to avoid this kind of thing if you can avoid it."

Well, what Han Chuan Zhenjun said was well-intentioned.

Unfortunately, he underestimated the heroes of this world, unaware that many years ago, someone had already found a way to utilize evil energy.

It is unknown whether Xiao Chen achieved such a rapid breakthrough by borrowing the evil energy.

However, on the surface, he nodded and said, "Yes, I will remember your heartfelt words, fellow Daoist."

"I couldn't think of any other way, so I resorted to using evil energy."

"Since it's not feasible, let's just forget about it."

Although given Xiao Chen's current status, even if it were revealed that he could absorb evil energy, it shouldn't be a big problem.

But there's no need to bring this up proactively; what's the point?
Unfortunately, his carefully crafted plan was abandoned before it even began.

How to deal with the Thirty-Six Turns of Cold Smoke Golden Talisman has become a major problem standing in the way of the human race.

For the next two weeks or so.

Iron Fan True Lord and Crane Cry True Lord successively tried several different fourth-order fire talismans.

However, although some of these hastily made talismans were slightly better than the Xiaoguang Lieyang Talisman, they were still far inferior to the Chongxiao Palm.

It can be basically confirmed that relying on talismans will not work.

As time went by day by day, everyone became a little anxious.

This can't go on forever.

The problem is that being anxious won't help; neither of these two difficulties is easy to handle.

"If you ask me, everyone should just relax a bit."

Yunwo Zhenjun was the first to feel relieved: "We used to rely on formations to intercept the sea creatures before, now it's just that the situation has been reversed."

"Overall, the situation has turned from being at a great disadvantage to being in our favor."

"If you ask me, the worst that can happen is we can play for another three years."

"Let's fight a war of attrition with the sea creatures, and rely on our spirit stone reserves. After all, they've come from afar; do you think they can outlast us?"

It's perfectly normal for him to have such thoughts.

After all, Yuntao Sword Pavilion had only recently ended its siege.

"Fellow Daoist Yunwo is right."

True Monarch Qian Shu also agreed with this statement: "We were able to intercept the sea race with our defensive formations before, so it's normal that we're being blocked instead now."

"The most urgent thing is to adjust our mindset and not be in a hurry to achieve results."

"Let's fight a protracted war in a down-to-earth manner, neither becoming arrogant because of a temporary victory nor discouraged because of a temporary defeat."

"Keep a calm mind and take it slow."

"Furthermore, Fellow Daoist Gangyuan is already working on breaking the sea race's formation in reverse."

"If we continue to drag this out, the situation may not necessarily be unfavorable to us."

His point is valid; it's important to maintain a calm and balanced mindset.

However, Iron Fan Zhenjun remained frowning. After thinking for a moment, he still poured cold water on everyone's hopes: "That's true, but there's something we must be wary of."

"I've been thinking about this for the past few days, trying to figure out the sea creatures' purpose in stalling for time."

The more I think about it, the more uneasy I feel.

"Since the sea creatures are willing to give up so many fourth-order defensive arrays, it means they must have a bigger plan."

"And it is very likely that it is the kind of important plan that can directly determine the overall direction of the situation."

"Otherwise, they could simply use this fifth-tier talisman to stop us. Why bother setting up a series of arrays and paying such a high price to buy time?"

"I have a feeling that if we can't find a solution, something big might happen next."

His idea sounds somewhat negative, but it does make some sense.

Unfortunately, everyone had very little intelligence and had no idea what the sea creatures were planning to do.

Speaking of this, in the past two years, all the major sects have tried to send disciples to feign defection and infiltrate the core to steal intelligence.

However, after their surprise attack on the Mozhang Sect failed, the sea creatures adopted a simple and brutal plan.

That would be to completely eliminate human cultivators.

Any important battle plans and any key formation arrangements are directly managed by the sea monsters, and human cultivators are not allowed to access them.

No matter how loyal a human traitor may appear, it's unacceptable.

As a result, in terms of intelligence, the human race has always lagged behind the sea race, and this remains true to this day.

"How about we just create a demonic calamity?"

Xiao Chen suddenly spoke up: "I have a piece of baleful energy that I unexpectedly seized, and I have already told Fellow Daoist Gang Yuan about it before."

"The Demonic Cult can use evil energy to create demonic calamities, so why don't we follow suit and create a demonic calamity as well?"

"Demonic energy does not discriminate between humans and sea creatures; it treats everyone equally."

"Since we are in extraordinary times, we must do extraordinary things."

"What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)