Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Taking Turns to Attack

On the second morning after making camp, a long horn call pierced the sky as the camp gates boomed open. The Cloud Pattern Cavalry were the first to charge out, rushing from the encampment like arrows loosed from a bow.

The Law Enforcement Team, Vassal Cultivators, and hired Wanderers followed close behind, surging forth like a river bursting its banks.

Lu Zhao, however, was left behind in the encampment. He did not have to go to battle today. His mission was singular: to mass-produce Ironwood Guards.

This order had been issued three days prior, and along with the activities of the other departments, it painted a clear picture. The Artifact Department was rushing to produce large-scale Magical Artifacts; the Pill Department was mass-producing Fasting Pills, Spirit Revival Pills, and Rejuvenation Pills; the Array and Talisman Departments were stockpiling the Array Discs and Talismans needed for a protracted war. This, especially combined with the Spirit Gathering Arrays set up throughout the camp, all pointed to one clear fact.

’The Zhou Family is preparing for a war of attrition.’

Lu Zhao continued to process the Puppet Materials, a sense of clarity in his heart. The policy that allowed participating Cultivators to enter the Spirit Gathering Array to train for free each day only further confirmed the consensus: this was a grueling war of attrition. The Zhou Family planned to slowly grind down the Array.

Late in the afternoon, the Cultivators who had gone to battle returned to camp in succession. Seeing the unconcealable exhaustion and helplessness on their faces, Lu Zhao knew that today’s gains had been meager.

Sure enough, that evening Lu Zhao heard people discussing it. "More than ten Mountain-Splitting Crossbows... twelve hundred of us Cultivators attacked in waves, and that turtle shell didn’t even budge."

At 7:00 AM the next day, a new order arrived directly at the Hundred Arts Camp: "Two thousand Qi Cultivators, divided into ten teams. One team will attack the Array each day. Cultivators from the Hundred Arts Camp must also take the field!"

...

A month later, Lu Zhao retreated to the encampment along with the rest of the Hundred Arts Camp, guarded by the Cloud Pattern Cavalry. This was his third time on the battlefield.

Over the past month, he had witnessed the terrifying sight of more than ten house-sized Mountain-Splitting Crossbows firing in unison. Lu Zhao felt that if even one of those giant bolts were aimed at him, he would have no chance of survival.

What shocked him even more was seeing the Cultivators casting their magic in unison, especially the first time he witnessed it. A sky full of whistling Fireballs, glittering points of cold light from Ice Cones, massive boulders wreathed in wind and thunder... Countless Magical Artifacts, Talismans, and Five Elements Techniques merged into a torrent of destruction, relentlessly bombarding the same spot on the Grand Array.

At that moment, a thought echoed in Lu Zhao’s mind: ’An attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator probably wouldn’t be much more impressive than this.’

When the sky full of attacks crashed into the Array, he saw only the Magical Artifacts, their Spirit Light dimmed, fly back to their owners. The Talismans and Techniques simply dissipated into motes of starlight in the air.

Then the Cultivators began to recover their energy, preparing for the next wave...

The Zhou Family leadership, however, seemed to ignore this, simply ordering that the same kind of assault be repeated every hour.

He remembered how at the end of that day, he felt as if his body was about to fall apart, his Magical Power nearly depleted. Meanwhile, the Marketplace’s Grand Array remained as steady as a mountain, completely unmoved.

Lu Zhao had been secretly grateful at the time. ’Good thing our shifts are only once every ten days. Otherwise, not even a man of iron could take this.’

After that, he had to go to the battlefield every ten days. Gradually, Lu Zhao’s thoughts began to turn more toward his own Cultivation. His training had come to a near standstill during the month-long journey here, and now that the situation had somewhat stabilized, resuming it was imperative.

Over the past month, he had entered the Spirit Gathering Array to cultivate every day without fail. Supplemented by three Ice Jade Pills and three Middle-Grade Vessel-Protecting Pills each month, his long-stagnant Cultivation finally showed signs of advancing again. He estimated that if he could maintain this pace, he could break through to the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer in about a year.

’I hope we only manage to break through to the Marketplace after I reach the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer.’ This was Lu Zhao’s most fervent hope at the moment.

He knew that even if the Grand Array was breached, the cornered Cultivators in the Marketplace would fight like trapped beasts, guaranteeing a vicious battle. Every bit his strength increased was another bit of certainty he would survive. He had already made a resolution: if his progress was slow over the first nine months, he would spare no expense on Pills. He had to achieve his breakthrough within a year!

In the days that followed, Lu Zhao’s life fell into a strict routine: once every ten days, he would go to the front lines. After exhausting his Magical Power, he would enter the Spirit Gathering Array to recover, and then he would begin to cultivate.

During the nine days he was not on the battlefield, he spent half the day cultivating and the other half crafting Ironwood Guards—the high-intensity, repetitive crafting had pushed his success rate up to twenty-five percent. After nightfall, Lu Zhao would spend two hours focused on the Flowing Cloud Sparrow and the Ice Mouse Puppet, then take another hour to study the "Array Fundamentals" he had bought from Chen Moyang. The remainder of his time was spent in meditation to restore his Heart Spirit.

This routine continued for one month, two months... all the way to the fifth month, Lu Zhao lived at this tense pace. The turning point came in the sixth month—the seemingly indestructible Grand Array finally rippled for the first time!

During one earth-shaking volley, a giant bolt from a Mountain-Splitting Crossbow slammed into the curtain of light. The surface of the Array, which had always been as smooth as a mirror, suddenly spread a clearly visible ripple, as if a droplet had fallen onto the surface of a pond!

"It’s cracking! It’s about to break!"

The Zhou Family’s camp instantly erupted in a roar like a crashing tsunami. After half a year of futile bombardment, they had finally seen a glimmer of hope!

However, after a brief moment of euphoria, the Grand Array returned to its silent state, as if the ripple had been nothing more than an illusion. It was unclear whether the Cultivators inside the Marketplace had urgently reinforced it, or if that earth-shaking shot had just been a fluke.

But the seeds of hope had been sown. The Cultivators no longer cast their spells mechanically like puppets on a string; instead, they poured everything they had into the assault, each displaying their Divine Abilities. The light from the magic filling the sky intensified, the glow of the Magical Artifacts grew brighter, and they all crashed against the Grand Array with unprecedented determination.

Lu Zhao held nothing back either, pushing his Thousand Overlapping Waves Skill to its limit! Seven layers of surging Water Spirit Ripples stacked like a blade and slashed viciously at the curtain of light. Three months ago, he had brought this Technique to Minor Achievement (the sixth layer), and now, after three more months of arduous training, he had finally achieved the power of the seventh layer!

He was confident that, when paired with his Hundred Waters Magic Disc, this single strike was comparable in power to that of a Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Cultivator—though he could only manage a few such attacks.

This frantic bombardment continued for another month. Finally, the ripples reappeared!

This time, it was not a fleeting phenomenon. On the curtain of light, ripples spread out one after another, layer upon layer, rising and falling without cease!

"This damn turtle shell is finally going to shatter!" a scar-faced, middle-aged Cultivator roared, brandishing his saber, his face flush with excitement. The surrounding Cultivators followed with rousing cheers, "The Grand Array will fall! The Grand Array will fall...!"

And yet, the Zhou Family leadership merely stared at the violently fluctuating curtain of light. They gave no order to press the advantage and intensify the assault; the frequency of attacks remained the same as always, as if they hadn’t noticed the drastic change in the Array at all.

The rotating attacks continued in this manner for another three months. During this time, although the Array was constantly rippling, that was the extent of it. No greater change occurred, and no more violent reactions were triggered.

Meanwhile, in the Pill Department of the Hundred Arts Camp within the encampment, Lu Zhao was discussing something with another person.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, the price of these Ice Jade Pills is simply outrageous."

"Even if Spirit Pills are hard to come by now, you can’t just raise the price like this. Sixty Spirit Stones for a mere twelve Ice Jade Pills? That’s nearly double the original price!"

A middle-aged man with a slightly dark complexion, dressed in an indigo Daoist Robe, spoke up.

"You’re mistaken, Mr. Lu," he said. "Are you still selling your Puppets at the original price? If it weren’t for the favor you did me by selling me those Puppets, I wouldn’t even be willing to sell you these twelve Ice Jade Pills."

Lu Zhao argued and haggled with the Alchemist, but in the end, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and buy the Pills for fifty-five Spirit Stones.

Although the cost stung, Lu Zhao forced himself to bear it and say no more, reminding himself that the most important thing right now was to reach the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer as quickly as possible. He had a premonition that the time for the final assault was fast approaching.

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