Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 399: Hold on firmly, there will be a way!
No one could have predicted that the sea creatures would choose such a desperate, all-or-nothing attack.

If it's a one-on-one situation, then this approach is actually quite common.

However, in a major battle involving multiple sects from two major camps, with dozens of high-level combatants from each side participating.

This tactic of mobilizing all available forces to launch an attack is perhaps a bit too simplistic and brutal.

In general.

Such a straightforward decision would not have been made without having an absolute advantage in the early stages, or without being certain of victory.

The main point is that by doing this, the sea creatures are essentially giving up any room for further formation changes and maneuvering.

It truly is a matter of life and death.

This will put the human race to the test in terms of their defensive capabilities.

Having withstood today's onslaught, we can now fight however we want and win however we want.

If we can't handle it, it will be a crushing defeat, and we'll likely suffer a series of setbacks afterward.

But to be honest, this all-out, desperate fighting style did catch the human side somewhat off guard.

The most crucial point is that only Xiao Chen and two others were present on the Daoist side.

The rest of the True Lord of Hanchuan and the others are still on the outskirts.

Now that the sea creatures have launched a decisive battle without any warning, they certainly won't have time to send reinforcements immediately.

In other words, whether it was intentional design or a lucky accident.

The sea creatures have gained a relatively favorable condition for the decisive battle, possessing an absolute numerical advantage.

However, if they force their way into the fifth-order formation, they will suffer a great loss in terms of terrain.

A fourth-order linked array can suppress nearly half of the strength of those who attempt to enter it.

The effects of this fifth-order grand formation will naturally only be more powerful.

The moment all the great demons fell into the formation, they felt an invisible constraint surrounding them.

It felt like falling into a sticky quagmire, where every movement was severely restricted.

All spells were greatly reduced in power, losing at least 70% of their lethality and destructive force.

It couldn't even break through the simplest surrounding restrictions, let alone attack the array base.

Not only that, even their brute strength, which they were so proud of, has been greatly affected.

Under the restraint of the formation's power, both speed and force were reduced by at least 30%.

As a result, the actual combat power that the great demons can exert is almost one-tenth of what it used to be.

The one in charge of guarding the formation tonight is none other than the newly appointed Zen Master Minghuo.

But at this moment, he was chanting Buddhist scriptures and making mudras with his hands, and six arms were extending from behind him.

Each arm grabbed a fourth-tier demon nearby, firmly immobilizing them in place.

From a distance, he looks just like a god of war.

Even under these circumstances, the sea creatures, with their overwhelming numerical advantage and massive size, began to destroy the outer barrier.

Xiao Chen stood at the back, intently observing the situation.

Each time the silver ribbonfish swung its tail across the sky above the temple, it broke several chains formed by the golden Buddhist light nearby.

The nautilus on the right only needs to move its body forward one step to crush the numerous floating lotus phantoms around it.

Many more powerful demons were also breaking the restrictions around them.

Although they are much slower than the previous two, they are free from any additional interference.

If no one is able to stop it, the damage can accumulate and become significant.

"There are so many powerful demons!"

Gangyuan Zhenjun was taken aback and immediately turned to ask, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, what should we do now?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shouquan also looked over.

After all, among the three, Xiao Chen is the strongest in actual combat.

In such a sudden and urgent moment, everyone instinctively wants to hear the thoughts of the strongest person.

"Judging from this, the sea creatures are determined to fight to the death. Tonight will be the final battle."

Xiao Chen had quickly calmed down by now.

Anyway, now that there is a new cultivation world as a way out, he himself will not be in any danger, no matter how bad the situation outside is.

Since there is a way out, there is naturally no need to panic.

So Xiao Chen calmly instructed, "Let's stay here for now, so that Pudu Temple can find us as soon as possible."

"Then we coordinate with their commands to help fill defensive gaps."

The sea creatures arrived too suddenly and unexpectedly, so much so that the three of them had only been in contact with the array base for a few days and had not yet had time to properly familiarize themselves with the fifth-order grand array.

If we blindly throw ourselves into battle now, it will be difficult to achieve much, and we may not even be able to get into the most suitable combat position.

It's better to just stay put and wait.

Pudu Temple will certainly not forget these three important combatants.

Even if they couldn't attend to them immediately, they would definitely send someone to find them as soon as possible and request support.

Staying put and waiting is the most convenient way to get in touch.

It may not be the optimal solution, but it is the safest choice, which can avoid making a mess in a hurry and delaying the opportunity, causing side effects.

"By the way, while we're at it, could you please send a message to Fellow Daoist Gangyuan and Fellow Daoist Tieshan?"

Xiao Chen continued to assign tasks: "Notify them to cancel the original plan and move towards Pudu Temple as quickly as possible."

"Ideally, we could reinforce the battle directly from the rear and launch a counter-encirclement against the sea creatures."

"And Fellow Daoist Zhang, go back inside and see if you can finish the array base that was almost repaired."

"If it's convenient, I'll take it with me after it's fixed."

"It's good to have one more spare array base later."

"I can wait at the entrance for the people from Pudu Temple to arrive."

Gangyuan Zhenjun immediately nodded and accepted the order, then sat cross-legged on the spot, taking out a legendary flying sword from his hand.

Then they began to compile the transmission content in sequence and activate it one by one.

At this point, you absolutely must not skimp on things that shouldn't be skimped on.

Therefore, although he only needed to contact two people, he sent a total of eight sound transmission flying swords in all directions.

And there was a deliberate time gap in between.

This ensures that even if an accident occurs along the way and some of the communication swords are damaged, the message can still be delivered in a timely and accurate manner.

Zhang Shouquan also retreated directly to the warehouse at the back.

Using the refined spirit ore, we should expedite the repair work at hand.

Despite the constant explosions, howls, and cracking sounds outside.

However, once his gaze fell upon the array patterns, his movements immediately stabilized. Not only were they unaffected, but they actually became three times faster under the pressure.

At the same time, Zen Master Jingxing and others had also realized what was happening.

Meanwhile, based on the situation of the sea creature invasion, manpower was arranged to begin resistance.

Just as Xiao Chen had expected, he immediately sent people to the array base warehouse and asked them to go to the entrance of the Great Buddha Hall for unified command.

The powerful performance of the fifth-order formation gave Zen Master Jingxing time to react.

This allows him to calmly assess the situation.

Then, he launched a targeted counterattack: "Junior Brother Jingchen, go and activate all the World-Crossing Puppets in stock right now."

"Including the two that haven't been fully repaired yet, all of them should be deployed to the left side to ensure that all the great demons coming from that side are stopped outside the core array base."

The so-called "world-saving puppet" is a unique mechanical puppet used in battle by Pudu Temple.

It comes in two sizes, the former being a full sixteen feet tall and the latter eight feet tall.

They all wore kasayas and carried specially made monk knives, originally intended for the purpose of "saving the world through killing," specifically to deal with the enemies of Pudu Temple.

Moreover, unlike the Valley of a Thousand Machines, it requires divine sense to manipulate.

These world-saving puppets are all commanded using special Buddhist and Taoist secret methods, and only one Zen master is needed to control up to 36 of them.

Of course, even a wealthy temple like Pudu Temple couldn't stockpile that many puppets.

They now have only eleven bodies, and two of them were damaged during the previous defense and have not yet been repaired.

The reason why we didn't prepare more in advance was mainly due to two reasons.

The first reason is that once the spiritual materials are made into a puppet, there is a time limit for its use, and it will have to be scrapped after a while.

The second reason is more important: spirit ore only needs to be stored in the warehouse, but fourth-order puppets require complex maintenance.

For every large puppet like this, several golden Arhats must be assigned to take care of it.

Over time, the manpower and resources consumed in maintenance also amount to a significant amount.

To put it bluntly, it's not an exaggeration.

If such weapons of war were given to small cultivation families with only one or two Golden Core cultivators, they probably wouldn't be able to afford to support them even with the resources of their entire clan.

Pudu Temple was able to prepare eleven sets of offerings, which was actually quite a lot.

“Junior Brother Jingchi, take Junior Brother Fazhao and Master Tinghai, each with three Dharma flags, and go to the front to command the Vajra Warriors to stop that beast.”

Zen Master Jingxing took out nine golden Dharma flags: "Also, tell Brother Minghuo to keep his distance."

"Even if it means giving up some ordinary array bases, don't go head-to-head with that beast."

“If necessary, you may retreat to the Wuyou Temple.”

"By giving up space outside in exchange for time."

"This will weaken the sea creatures' power first, wearing down their strength and vigor."

This Master Tinghai is not a Zen master from Pudu Temple.

They were survivors who escaped from Juehai Temple.

It also brought very regrettable news: After being ambushed by the sea creatures, Zen Master Yingwu was ultimately mortally wounded and passed away in the temple.

Apart from the few who escaped earlier, the rest of the Juehai Temple disciples perished in the siege by the sea tribe.

Now, it's been over a year since that news came out.

Fortunately, because they arrived early, and because Zen Master Tinghai was also well-versed in Buddhism and frequently participated in the rotation, it was equivalent to undergoing more than a year of defensive training.

He is now very familiar with the fifth-order grand formation of Pudu Temple, and is practically one of its own.

It's a piece of good news amidst all the bad news.

Then Zen Master Jingxing took out several jade bottles and handed them over: "Tonight is destined to be a long and arduous battle."

"Take these bottles of pills with you. Don't worry about saving them; just replenish your true energy whenever it's used up." "Just remember this—hold firm, and there's a way!"

The reason why Zen Master Jingxing said this is because Pudu Temple still has a trump card that it has not yet used.

This is perfectly normal; it applies to any force that has existed for a certain period of time and has not yet disappeared.

In addition to their overt strength, they must also have some covert resources to deal with those deadly crises.

Despite this, Zen Master Jingxing was actually a little flustered.

Because he still doesn't know what the sea creatures' trump card is.
Assuming His Majesty isn't a complete fool, he should have been able to anticipate that Pudu Temple would have some hidden tricks up its sleeve.

Therefore, since he dared to launch a general offensive, he must have something to rely on.

Since Zen Master Jingxing couldn't guess or see what cards his opponent held, he naturally hesitated to make any rash moves.

We had no choice but to adopt a relatively conservative strategy and wait and see how things went.

In this situation, unless a decisive blow can be delivered, the side that reveals its hand first will generally suffer a loss.

Furthermore, considering that the sea creatures launched a surprise attack, they have already gained the upper hand.

That's why Zen Master Jingxing asked everyone to persevere, in an attempt to gain the upper hand after the opponent has acted.

Especially at such critical moments, it is even more important to remain calm and composed.

Fortunately, as a Buddhist practitioner, he had cultivated a fairly good ability to remain calm and composed, and was still able to deal with the situation relatively calmly.

"Abbot, we've arrived!"

A short while later, Xiao Chen and the others arrived, led by a young novice monk.

Before Zen Master Jingxing could even speak politely...

Xiao Chen said directly, "The situation is urgent, let's not waste time."

"May we ask how we can help, Abbot? Please just tell us your instructions."

Master Jingxing was not the kind of person who put on airs, so upon hearing this, he immediately nodded as a way of expressing his gratitude.

Then he gave a direct order: "Then please have the three laymen follow Junior Brother Jinghua to the right side of the temple to intercept the sea monster attacking from there."

“I am also aware that this task may be a bit too difficult.”

"But right now we simply don't have enough manpower to carry out a full-scale defense."

"I have no choice but to ask the three lay Buddhists to overcome the difficulties and withstand the pressure to try to gain as much time as possible."

“Junior Brother Jinghua is very clear about the specific defense details.”

"I implore the three of you to exert yourselves more in the battle, so that we and the entire human race may buy more time."

"The sea race is coming with great force, and the fifth-order formation must not be lost."

"The safety of the right side is in the hands of the three of you!"

I don’t know if it was a habit, but as Master Jingxing was talking, he started talking about the entire human race again.

Generally speaking, in this situation, the party requesting assistance will try to be more tactful, even if it's just feigned politeness.

For example, everyone should ensure their own safety first, and then do their best to stop the great sea monster.

For example, polite phrases like "If it really doesn't work out, the three lay Buddhists may leave on their own" are used.

Although running away now would be a breach of trust, and Xiao Chen and the others would certainly not slack off or run away halfway.

But that sounds more comfortable, doesn't it?

However, Zen Master Jingxing not only did not say that, but also directly asked the three of them to put in more effort, truly treating himself as an outsider at all.

Xiao Chen found it very strange that the other party had become the abbot.
It couldn't have been a random draw, and it just happened to be him, right?
Of course, no matter how tight the time is, none of that matters anymore; it's better to be straightforward.

Xiao Chen readily agreed: "No problem, please rest assured, Abbot."

"I wouldn't dare make any grand promises or guarantee that I can complete the mission. But I can assure you that I will fight with all my might until the very end."

After saying that, he prepared to leave decisively.

"Wait a minute, I have three more things to say."

Master Jingxing took out three small jade bottles again: "Here are a few bottles of pills that can speed up the recovery of true essence. Please take them with you, all three laymen."

"In addition, if you have any talismans or other pills with you, feel free to use them."

“Afterwards, Pudu Temple is willing to bear all costs on behalf of the three and provide double compensation.”

Double compensation?
To be honest, the conditions don't seem that great.

In fact, given the rarity of fourth-tier spiritual items, this is no small sum of money.

Let's assume that the True Lord Gangyuan spent a hundred years accumulating about six or seven bottles of elixirs related to combat.

So as long as he seemingly uses them up reasonably during the battle, he can take the opportunity to gain double the benefits.

Those would be worth at least a million spirit stones.

If you include talismans, magical treasures, and one-time-use spiritual artifacts, you could even receive an additional compensation of several million spirit stones.

The only pity is that newly promoted True Lords like Xiao Chen and Zhang Shouquan don't have much to offer.

They just wanted to claim some compensation, but they didn't have the principal.

However, Zhang Shouquan had a flash of inspiration and came up with a good idea.

As comrades-in-arms, they could easily share some of the elixirs with True Lord Gangyuan without any problem.

Anyway, one person can't finish it all, so it's better to split it 30/70.

However, he kept this thought to himself for the time being, planning to speak up when he reached the right side.

"Understood, thank you for your kindness, Abbot."

Xiao Chen turned around to thank him, and then continued to follow Zen Master Jinghua to the right.

Previously, due to a lack of manpower to defend the right side, the sea monster had already damaged three outer array bases and was now launching a fierce attack inward.

"There are a few questions I need to understand first."

As Xiao Chen continued on his way, he asked, "First, which places are we willing to give up? And which places are absolutely non-negotiable?"

They were, after all, reinforcements, not Buddhist disciples.

Of course, they wouldn't risk fighting for some outer defensive positions that could be abandoned.

Therefore, Xiao Chen's strategy was to buy time by resisting step by step.

To some extent, he and Abbot Jingxing could be considered kindred spirits.

"The dividing line we need to defend is very simple; it is this long corridor on the right."

Zen Master Jinghua drew a straight line with his hand: "Beyond the long corridor is the Thousand Buddha Glazed Wall, which is also one of the key hubs of the great formation."

"Right behind that is the core array base."

"No matter how critical the situation is, we should at least protect the Thousand Buddha Glass Wall and prevent it from destroying this key structure."

To be honest, this is definitely not an easy task.

On that Thousand Buddha Glass Wall, a thousand different Buddha images with varying poses and expressions were meticulously painted using seven colors of pigment.

Moreover, some of the images are surrounded by corresponding backgrounds, such as novices and Vajra protectors surrounding the Buddha, making the entire glazed wall look vivid and rich in content.

But it is precisely for this reason that it is a full thousand feet long!

It's far too big for a target that needs protection.

It should be noted that once you reach the fourth rank, any spell can have a coverage area of ​​hundreds or even thousands of feet.

Not to mention that the great sea monsters themselves are all hundreds of feet tall.

Even a simple swing of its pincers or tail can sweep across an area of ​​several hundred feet.

Under these circumstances, the target of the Thousand Buddha Glazed Wall remains fixed in place and cannot be moved.

This means that in order to protect its safety, Xiao Chen and the others must ensure that no sea monster on the right side can get within two hundred feet of it.

Add two hundred zhang to each side, and you have a defensive line that is 1,400 zhang long.

There are four of them in total, which means that each person is responsible for an area of ​​nearly four hundred feet.

Of course, there are many golden Arhats walking around below. They are responsible for checking the consumption of spirit stones in the array base and replenishing the gaps in time.

However, in the fourth-tier battlefield, they can only play a supporting role.

They are almost incapable of providing direct combat capability.

"How about this, let's discuss the arrangements in advance."

Xiao Chen assessed the situation and immediately began giving instructions: "If we need to retreat, I will take charge of the far right side of the Glazed Wall."

“Master Jinghua, you will be in charge of the section on the right side of the middle.”

“Fellow Daoist Gangyuan, please take charge of the section on the left side of the middle.”

"As for Fellow Daoist Zhang, keep an eye on the far left of the Glazed Wall."

Without a doubt, the defensive pressure is greatest on the right side and least on the left side of the entire line.

Therefore, Xiao Chen made this arrangement based directly on combat strength and status.

Although he didn't know whether Gangyuan Zhenjun or Jinghua Zen Master was stronger.

However, he believed that Zen Master Jinghua's fighting spirit was definitely stronger.

"If there's a problem, say it now."

Xiao Chen concluded by saying, "If everyone is okay with this, then we will continue in this same order, resisting step by step along the foundational formations, and do our best to delay the sea race's advance."

His arrangement was reasonable, and naturally no one objected.

However, before parting ways, Zen Master Jinghua called out to the group, "Please wait a moment, I have another bottle of Tai Ran Zhuang Qi Pill here."

"Just by swallowing one pill, you will not feel tired for the next hour and will quickly recover your strength."

"Now everyone, divide them up and each person should take three."

"Use it directly to replenish your qi and blood and physical strength later, don't worry about saving it for me."

As he spoke, Zen Master Jinghua poured out the elixir and distributed it to the three of them.

He even offered a suggestion: "Also, if anyone has brought any extra talismans or elixirs that can be used in battle, please share some with me."

"Please rest assured, even the portion that I used will be explained to the abbot and doubled in compensation afterwards."

There was no need for Zhang Shouquan to say anything; Zen Master Jinghua pointed this out on his own initiative.

In fact, Pudu Temple is not afraid of them intentionally squandering or overusing the sacred items.

On the contrary, I'm afraid they'll be stingy and unwilling to use their resources, which might delay our defense efforts.

So they simply arranged for Zen Master Jinghua to take the initiative to remind him.

This indicates that if anyone has anything good, they can share it now.

(End of this chapter)