Chapter 1694: Deterrent Empty City Strategy
Chapter 1694: Deterrent Empty City Strategy
Yan Zhaoge and his party met Ne Zha and Taiyi Cultivated Deity outside the Western Pure Lands.
“Thank you, fellow Daoists, for coming here to support me. I will never forget this favor.” Ne Zha first thanked Yan Zhaoge and others.
“Don’t mention it. Unfortunately, the duel is happening in the Western Pure Lands. Archaic Dipankara Buddha is already quite strong, but now he has a geographical advantage. I’m afraid things will be difficult,” said Yan Zhaoge.
“Hey, why should I be afraid of him? It’s just that Sea Suppressing Pearl is tricky,” sneered Ne Zha.
Yan Zhaoge nodded and looked at Taiyi Cultivated Deity again, “I heard that Brother Yang will come as well?”
Taiyi Cultivated Deity smiled and replied, “Yang Jian said he would come after finishing the matters at hand. So he should be reaching soon.”
The Cultivated Deity then asked again, “Are the three of you staying outside or going in with my disciple?”
“My father and I shall head in to watch the duel with Yunsheng staying outside,” replied Yan Zhaoge.
Feng Yunsheng on the side nodded.
Since Yang Jian would come, she would enter the Western Pure Lands at that time, so she stayed outside to wait.
After all, when she was outside the Western Pure Lands, her deterrence was greater on the other factions.
As for Suo Mingzhang, he didn’t come and remained in the Tai’an Royal Cliff Heavens.
His stay would ensure that Daoism’s universe wouldn’t be unguarded with other factions taking advantage of the situation and stirring up trouble.
“I heard from Senior Brother Antarctica and Yang Jian that you could join forces with your companions to manifest the Great Sage Equalling Heavens’ true form. I wonder if your companions can come along?” Taiyi Cultivated Deity asked again.
Yan Zhaoge smiled, “Cultivated Deity, you can rest assured with that.”
In fact, both Xu Fei and Pan Pan did not come. Instead, they all stayed in Sky beyond Skies.
Only Yan Zhaoge’s North Ocean Clone came here with the Ru Yi Golden Cudgel.
About 300 years ago during the battle for the Immortal Extermination Formation, the three Golden Body of the Great Sage merged into one, manifesting the true form of the Great Sage Equalling Heavens. They finally merged with the Earthly Essence Stone, which expended most of their energies.
To this day, although the Xu Fei could manifest the Golden Body of the Great Sage independently, they could hardly manifest the Great Sage Equalling Heavens’ true form again, even with the help of the Earthly Essence Stone. They still needed time to recuperate from the exhaustion.
Everyone could guess that the Golden Body of the Great Sage would consume a lot of energy with a long time of recovery required as per usage.
Though, it was hard to figure out the details.
Only Yan Zhaoge’s group had the exact figures in grasp. The onlookers couldn’t figure it out even though 300 years had passed since then. Hence, everyone was careful with it.
After all, even without combining the Earthly Essence Stone, it was a terrifying feat having the three Golden Body of the Great Sage manifesting the Great Sage Equalling Heavens’ true form as a whole. Even Dao Monarch Lu Ya was beaten up in an embarrassing flee.
Xu Fei and Pan Pan stayed in Sky beyond Skies. They wouldn’t simply leave and wouldn’t show up easily.
As long as the other forces weren’t sure if the trio was with Yan Zhaoge, they had to be wary and be on guard at all times.
Yan Zhaoge’s empty city strategy [1] was a great deterrence.
Of course, there was no need to explain in detail to the Taiyi Cultivated Deity.
It wasn’t because of the lack of trust, but it was better off having lesser people know about this.
“If that’s the case, that’s great. Then, Brother Southern Extremity and I shall stay outside to make sure that everything is safe.” Taiyi Cultivated Deity said with a smile, “Dao Monarch Lu Ya should have made his full preparation. I’m worried that the demon races will cause us trouble.”
Yan Zhaoge nodded when he heard the remarks.
During the years when he was in seclusion, Ne Zha stayed and mocked them at the entrance with Archaic Dipankara Buddha acting deaf to it. As time passed by, many note-worthy changes took place.
Firstly, one of the Twelve Devilish Gods, Devil of Fire among the 6 Extinct Devils, had successfully been reborn!
Following the rebirth of Devil of Aged Metal, after the authority of Supreme and Faceless was reclaimed by Nine Underworlds, a new generation of fire devil also returned to Nine Underworlds.
The devils seemed to be growing in momentum.
But what Yan Zhaoge cared about regarding the rebirth of Devil of Fire was the body used during the reincarnation came from the demon races.
Generally speaking, the success rate for the rebirth of the Great Devil wasn’t 100%.
A few epochs had passed. Strictly speaking, it was natural that failure occupied the majority.
With the devil being the public enemy, even if the Great Devil found a suitable body, he would be eliminated soon.
At the moment the devil was reborn, their cultivation was low. Therefore, it was difficult to escape the situation and return to the Nine Underworlds to cultivate.
Although it was a bit cruel, most of the bodies suitable for Great Devils were executed as soon as possible since ancient times.
There were very few exceptions like Chen Xuanzong, Chu Lili, Ying Yuzhen, and others.
But this time, the rebirth of Devil of Fire seemed to be relatively easy.
“Nine Underworlds helped the demon races faction to defile the Green Lotus Treasured Flag and captured Sakyamuni Sarira in exchange for the return of the Devil of Fire.” Yan Di said, “But Dao Monarch Lu Ya must have gotten what he wanted.”
Although Dao Monarch Lu Ya was secretly helping Nine Underworlds, he must have asked for benefits since he had the higher ground to take advantage of the devils.
The purpose of helping the Nine Underworlds was to facilitate the harvesting process. Dao Monarch Lu Ya wouldn’t want the Nine Underworlds to flourish either.
This was also basically the common idea that Archaic Dipankara Buddha, Bhikkhu Xuan Du, and others shared.
While supporting the Nine Underworlds, they had also arranged their plans so that they could restrain the Nine Underworlds for their profits when the opportunity came in the future.
Yan Zhaoge could easily guess that the matter of the Devil of Fire returning to Nine Underworlds must have secrets hidden behind it.
He even wondered if Dao Monarch Lu Ya had control of the new generation of Devil of Fire.
Since Dao Monarch Lu Ya was born as the Earlier Heaven Essence of Departed Fire, he had his way to take advantage of the situation after careful planning.
Of course, his actions could hide from others, but not from Origin Heart Devil. Even if he succeeded in cheating the Origin Heart Devil, he certainly couldn’t hide his trace from the Vast Freedom Heavenly Devil.
Since Nine Underworlds knew about it, the biggest possibility was that they chose to keep one eye closed on that matter.
The Nine Underworlds devils were well aware of the plans of Dao Monarch Lu Ya, Archaic Dipankara Buddha, and others.
Just as the other factions secretly condone the Nine Underworlds, the Nine Underworlds would choose to endure it silently even if they were aware of their actions.
The matter involved compromise and a great tacit understanding.
Everyone was waiting for the final decisive moment.
In the case of Devil of Fire, as far as Nine Underworlds was concerned, the first thing to do was to let the reborn Devil of Fire return to Nine Underworlds. Everything else would come second.
Also, this was related to the deal where Dao Monarch Lu Ya had exchanged for the Kindling Devil Spirit from Daoism’s Jade Illusory Glazed Lamp with Qin of Fuxi. Yan Zhaoge and others could naturally infer that Dao Monarch Lu Ya should have completed his plan in seizing profit from the devils.
In this way, he should be as prepared as Archaic Dipankara Buddha and Bhikkhu Xuan Du.
“Compared to the demon races, the Western Pure Lands lost the Green Lotus Treasured Flag and failed to acquire the Sakyamuni Sarira. I’m afraid the Archaic Dipankara Buddha is a little more anxious than his competitors.” Yan Zhaoge thought for a while and gave his remarks to Taiyi Cultivated Deity.
Taiyi Cultivated Deity stroked his beard and nodded lightly.
[1] The strategy involves using reverse psychology (and luck) to deceive the enemy into thinking that an empty location is full of traps and ambushes and therefore induce the enemy to retreat. link
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