Chapter 232: Military Dao? The Way of Deceit

The dark green arrow of aura shot across the sky, aimed straight at Yan Liyuan’s golden image of a scholar.

Yan Liyuan’s expression remained unchanged as the golden light between his brows blazed intensely.

The scholarly projection in the sky slowly opened its eyes, which held neither sorrow nor joy, only a tranquility that transcended life and a death.

“The people are precious, the state is secondary, and the ruler is least important.”

The scholar waved its long sleeve, and a golden curtain of light unfurled before it.

The dark green arrow crashed into the curtain of light, producing a harsh, sizzling sound of corrosion.

The golden light and green mist intertwined, each dissolving the other.

“The people are the foundation.” Yan Liyuan held his head high, his gaze serene. “This is the very bedrock of my Confucian Dao. Let’s see how it fares against you.”

Behind the scholarly projection, the faint figures of countless commoners began to appear.

There were farmers, Artisans, merchants, and Soldiers; men and women, young and old. Their clothes were tattered, but their eyes shone brightly.

They bowed, saluted, and knelt before the scholar, then transformed into motes of golden light that merged into its body.

“This is…” A flicker of surprise crossed the Plague God Sparrow’s eyes. ‘Your True Intent is already approaching an ‘Aura of Power’?’

“I’m still a long way off.” Yan Liyuan shook his head, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of his mouth. “But it’s more than enough to hold you off for a time.”

The scholar raised its hand, its fingers clenching into a fist. A colossal golden hand materialized and descended from the sky, grasping toward the Plague God Sparrow.

The Plague God Sparrow clenched its jaw and spat out a cloud of dark green toxic mist that instantly corroded the giant hand.

“Kill!” Su Feibai roared. His Jade Long Saber swung down, unleashing an arc of light hundreds of yards long that cleaved directly toward the Plague God Sparrow’s head.

Guan Julan’s Water Needle transformed into a Water Dragon that coiled toward the Plague God Sparrow’s neck.

Hong Xiu’s Flaming Blade scorched its back, while Wen Mo swiped his brush, causing a giant character for “Imprison” to descend and transform into chains that bound its claws.

The dark green light around the Plague God Sparrow flared. “Mere juniors!”

Its feathers molted away and its skin split open. Countless streams of dark green pus gushed from the fissures, transforming into venomous snakes that lunged at the group.

“Careful!” Yan Liyuan waved his ruler, and a flash of golden light severed the vipers leading the charge.

But there were too many of them—a dense, overwhelming tide that blotted out the sky.

A venomous snake coiled around Su Feibai’s left arm, and his skin instantly turned black.

He gritted his teeth and cut the snake apart with his saber, but the poison had already entered his system. His face turned a deathly pale.

Guan Julan was in even worse shape. Three venomous snakes were coiled around her waist, their fangs sinking into her flesh.

She let out a muffled groan as her water shield exploded, blasting the snakes to pieces, but the poison had already begun to spread.

The Wood Daoist’s voice rang out, “We can remove the Plague God Sparrow’s poison later! Don’t let it stop Zhu Ge from killing the Locust Demon Crown Prince and the Red River Dragon Python!”

“Easy for you to say,” Su Feibai snarled, pulling a medicinal pill from his robes and swallowing it.

The poison was suppressed, but his complexion remained terrible.

It was the same for the others.

Meanwhile, down below, Zhu Ge sat cross-legged on the ground. His hands formed incantation seals, and mycelial threads remained coiled around the Locust Demon Crown Prince and the Red River Dragon Python.

The two great beasts struggled within the mycelia, tearing at each other, but neither could escape.

The locusts had bored two large holes into the Red River Dragon Python’s body, and crimson blood gushed out like a fountain.

More than half of the Locust Demon Crown Prince’s swarm had been annihilated by the mycelia, and the remaining Gu Insects were now turning on their master in a frenzy.

Zhu Ge frowned. ‘Killing these great beasts is harder than I thought. A hundred times harder than killing a Third Realm expert!’

The Bone Monster Avatar reassembled itself from shattered bones. It stood shakily behind him, continuously pouring the Spiritual Qi from its body into the Seed of the Fungus God.

Only then could he barely maintain the stalemate.

‘My bones are almost gone…’ The Bone Monster Avatar took stock of itself. It never imagined that the bones from an entire White Bone Cave wouldn’t be enough.

‘And that was the place I’d been collecting and storing bones for ages!’

But Zhu Ge remained calm.

‘They can be killed. It’s just that both the Red River Dragon Python and the Locust Demon Crown Prince are exceptionally hard to kill.’

Fortunately, with Zhu Ge, Hua Liusha, and the Bone Monster Avatar taking turns powering the Fungus God Destruction Array, they could afford to engage in a war of attrition.

Above them, however, the battle between the Plague God Sparrow and Yan Liyuan’s group had reached a fever pitch.

Yan Liyuan and his companions were powerful, true prodigies. Whether compared to the younger or older generation, they were all considered top-tier experts within the Third Realm.

But a great beast was a great beast, after all.

If Yan Liyuan and his group could defeat or even kill a great beast simply by joining forces, then ranking in the top ten of the Sheji Chart would be far too easy.

Even the prodigies who ranked in the top ten had to exhaust all their means to slay a great beast.

Right now, all Yan Liyuan and his group could do was hold the line.

As long as they could hold off the Plague God Sparrow until Zhu Ge killed the Red River Dragon Python and the Locust Demon Crown Prince, their worries would be over. They might even come out of this with a handsome profit.

But if they couldn’t hold on, their life-saving artifacts would likely activate, teleporting them back to their respective Sects or families.

At that point, their entire expedition would be considered a failure.

Of course, for these scions of great clans, it would be nothing more than a single failed trial.

But for Zhu Ge?

It would be a total and utter rout.

Fortunately, for the moment, Yan Liyuan and his group were pulling their weight.

Individually, they might not be a match for the Plague God Sparrow, but together, they could keep it tied down.

Just then, Zhu Ge did a quick mental calculation and said to Hua Liusha in his mind, “Liusha, it’s about time. Notify Sui Niang!”

“Okay, Brother!” Hua Liusha replied.

A moment later, Hua Liusha responded, “Brother, Sui Niang says she knows!”

Zhu Ge nodded, a sharp glint in his eyes.

‘Sui Niang!’

The net he had cast was finally ready to be drawn.

“BOOM!!!”

Not far away, Su Feibai plummeted from the sky like a meteor, smashing a large crater in the ground. He was barely breathing; even his Dao Heart had stopped beating.

Su Feibai was gravely wounded!

The Wood Daoist’s face was ashen like old tree bark, and his movements had slowed considerably.

Wen Mo, Hong Xiu, and Guan Julan weren’t faring any better.

Only Yan Liyuan was left, desperately holding on.

“You of the Human Race aren’t half bad,” the Plague God Sparrow cackled madly. “After you die, I will refine your soul into one of my Believers! A prodigy of the Human Race, singing my praises day in and day out! HAHA!”

Yan Liyuan’s face was ashen, but his eyes still burned with pride. “Vile beast! I am but an unranked prodigy on the Sheji Chart. If any of my sworn brothers were here, you would have been slain long ago!”

Yan Liyuan and the Plague God Sparrow exchanged verbal barbs, their hands never ceasing their attacks as they continued to fight.

But Yan Liyuan possessed less than a tenth of the Plague God Sparrow’s power and was being steadily forced back.

“Brother Yan, that’s enough!” Zhu Ge shouted. “I can finish these two off in an instant! Get back here, now!”

The moment the words left his mouth, Yan Liyuan retreated without hesitation under the protection of his Elemental Level Ruler.

The others did the same. The Wood Daoist even wrapped a vine around Su Feibai and dragged him back.

The Plague God Sparrow, meanwhile, instinctively beat its wings and soared higher into the sky.

But after a few seconds, everyone realized there was no commotion from below.

‘He’s lying again!’

Yan Liyuan and the others couldn’t help but shoot Zhu Ge an incredibly strange look.

‘Ready, my ass!’

The Red River Dragon Python and the Locust Demon Crown Prince weren’t dead yet!

Even the Red River Dragon Python and the Locust Demon Crown Prince couldn’t help but glance over.

High in the sky, the Plague God Sparrow spoke with cold hatred, “Brat, do you think I can’t deal with you?”

With that, it let out a long cry to the heavens. Its body then gradually condensed into a single, intensely dark green bead and plummeted toward the Red River Dragon Python and the Locust Demon Crown Prince below.

“First, I will devour these two. Then I will ascend to the Fusion Realm and reign supreme over all!”

At that very moment, however, countless mycelial threads shot upward.

Zhu Ge roared with laughter.

“The Military Dao is the path of deception!”