Chapter 223: Battle Preparations! Readying the Trump Cards

At Zhu Ge’s words, the Sword Hero instantly deflated.

Liu Jianjian’s hair all floated up, its tips glowing as voices emerged from within.

“No, no, no, Great Master! You can’t refine it! You can’t!”

“That’s right, that’s right! The Sword Hero is a blockhead, don’t listen to it!”

“Sword Hero, you ****, I’ll ****** you, you and I *****!!”

All sorts of voices came from within her hair.

These Demon Beasts were afraid.

If Zhu Ge really made Liu Jianjian refine a Great Demon, she might truly suck all these Demon Beasts dry.

After all, Liu Jianjian had needed to borrow the power of these Demon Beasts just to refine a Third Realm Essence-Devouring Demon Beast.

It was hard to imagine how much energy a Second Realm Liu Jianjian would need to support the refining of a Great Demon.

So, after the Sword Hero’s remark, these Demon Beasts cursed it out while desperately pleading with Zhu Ge.

However, Zhu Ge already had a clear idea of the situation.

Refining it was impossible.

The gap between a Great Demon and the Third Realm was even greater than the gap between the Third Realm and the First Realm.

Not to mention a Second Realm practitioner who didn’t even have Divine Sense?

Back when Zhu Ge was in the First Realm, facing the Third Realm Raincoat Fisherman, a direct confrontation would have meant certain death.

‘But if refining it is impossible, what about stalling it? At the cost of all Liu Jianjian’s Demon Qi, she could perform an instantaneous “refining” on the Plague God Sparrow. Though it wouldn’t be truly refined, just making it freeze for a single moment could be a game-changer on a rapidly shifting battlefield.’

“This will be our trump card,” Zhu Ge said solemnly to Liu Jianjian. “Jianjian, I’m not asking you to refine the Great Demon, but you can stall it.”

“Stall it?” Liu Jianjian was very clever and immediately understood what Zhu Ge meant.

“Yes. Stall the Great Demon for a moment, and coordinate it with the Fungus God Destruction Array.” Zhu Ge narrowed his eyes. “Then we can slay it!”

Zhu Ge didn’t know the limits of the Fungus God Destruction Array either.

But as the one who set up the array, the True Monarch of the Lantern had said it could handle a Great Demon, so it could handle a Great Demon.

When the time came, with the element of surprise, his Bone Monster Avatar could operate the Fungus God Destruction Array while Liu Jianjian used her Refining Technique to stall the creature for a split second. He reckoned they might actually have a chance of killing the Plague God Sparrow.

“Slay a Great Demon?!” Liu Jianjian was stunned for a second, then her eyes grew brighter and brighter, her breathing quickening.

Slaying a Great Demon!

This was something an ordinary Demon Beast like Liu Jianjian wouldn’t even dare to dream of.

That was a Great Demon!

A realm countless Demon Beasts could never reach in their entire lifetimes.

The entire Red River Prefecture had been thrown into chaos simply because of the appearance of this one Great God, the Plague God Sparrow.

If Liu Jianjian, at only the Second Realm, could assist Zhu Ge in slaying a Great Demon, wouldn’t she become a legend among Demon Beasts in the future?

“I… I’ll do my best!” Liu Jianjian’s cheeks were flushed as she fell into a state of excitement.

The tips of her dancing hair also settled down.

Indeed, the goal of refining a Great Demon was too far-fetched, and it had frightened all the Demon Beasts under Liu Jianjian’s command.

But helping Zhu Ge slay a Great Demon? That goal felt much more attainable.

It was even an attractive goal for these Demon Beasts.

“Good. Before the final battle, Jianjian, you must store up enough Demon Qi,” Zhu Ge said, patting Liu Jianjian’s shoulder.

Liu Jianjian took a deep breath and nodded heavily.

“Don’t worry, Master. I’ll do nothing but gather Demon Qi for the next two days!”

After speaking, she simply sat down cross-legged, closed her eyes, and her body surged with Demon Qi.

The Demon Beasts in her hair also quieted down, no longer clamoring, and began to slowly feed their own Demon Qi back to her.

The Strong Monkey King, perched on her shoulder, stopped eating its banana. It closed its eyes, and its demon heart began to beat slowly.

Seeing this, Zhu Ge felt a little more at ease.

“Zhao Tieshan.” He turned around.

“Present!” Zhao Tieshan said with a fist-and-palm salute.

“You will lead the feint attack on the east gate. You don’t need many people—five hundred Martial Artists and a thousand Military Dao Soldiers will be enough.”

“Make it look big, but don’t get tied down in the fighting. The moment you see three red Literary Qi Bombs rise from the city walls, retreat immediately and run toward Six Paths Valley.”

“Toward Six Paths Valley?” Zhao Tieshan paused. “Not back to the camp?”

“Forget the camp,” Zhu Ge said. “After this battle, if we win, we’ll go straight back to Six Paths Valley to celebrate. If we lose…”

“Run to Six Paths Valley. There’s a great array there that can save your lives.”

Zhao Tieshan was silent for a moment before nodding. “Understood.” 𝖋𝙧ⅇ

“Yu the Scholar.” Zhu Ge looked at him.

“Present,” said Yu the Scholar, his hair as white as snow, a gentle smile on his face.

“You will take the Confucian Scholars and move with Zhao Tieshan. Your mission isn’t to kill the enemy, but to disperse the plague’s poison. By the way,” Zhu Ge asked, “can the Gongyang Confucian ‘Kill’ Character Art suppress the Plague God Sparrow’s toxic mist?”

Yu the Scholar pondered for a moment. “I’ve never tried, but it’s worth a shot.”

“Confucian Daoist Literary Qi naturally suppresses the likes of Ghost Gods. Although the Plague God Sparrow is a Great God, the plague it spreads is essentially the power of an evil entity. With my Literary Energy, combined with the efforts of eighty Confucian Scholars, we should at least be able to protect a hundred-zhang radius from the toxic mist’s corrosion.”

The Plague God Sparrow was a Great God, but it was an Evil God.

It fed on the fear emanated by living beings within a plague.

When this kind of negative energy encountered the upright and vast positive energy of the Confucians, it was basically like fire meeting water.

Zhu Ge wasn’t asking for the Literary Energy to completely suppress it, merely to stall and resist it.

“That will be enough,” Zhu Ge nodded. “If something happens on the northern front, you will fill the breach.”

“Understood,” Yu the Scholar replied with a solemn nod.

Zhu Ge then walked over to the Black-Horned Bull.

The Black-Horned Bull was lying on the ground, its eyes half-closed as if it were dozing.

Sensing Zhu Ge’s approach, it lifted its head.

“Black-Horned Bull, you have a mission as well.”

“MOO?” The Black-Horned Bull snorted.

“On the day of the final battle, you will take your herd and guard the banks of the Red River. You don’t need to join the fight; you just need to intercept any Demon Beasts that try to escape through the river. Don’t let a single one get away,” Zhu Ge said, narrowing his eyes.

The Black-Horned Bull’s eyes went wide. “That’s it? This old bull doesn’t have to go to the battlefield?”

Its voice was laced with pleasant surprise.

“That’s it,” Zhu Ge grinned.

“That’s too easy,” the Black-Horned Bull said, flicking its tail. “Leave it to me.”

Zhu Ge nodded, then looked toward Ji Fuhui and Duan Lei.

He couldn’t help but sigh internally.

“Little Black Egg, Big Belly Dog…”

Zhu Ge continued to make arrangements one by one, even crushing Yan Liyuan’s jade tablet midway through to summon him for a discussion.

By the time all arrangements were settled, it was late at night.

Zhu Ge sat alone on a hill behind the camp, gazing at the distant silhouette of Yuan Yang City.

Moonlight filtered through gaps in the toxic clouds, making the floating city appear and disappear from view.

“What are you still thinking about?” Hua Liusha’s voice, tinged with gentleness, echoed in his mind.

Hua Liusha had been very quiet lately, as if she were afraid of disturbing Zhu Ge.