Confucian Archery

"Even if it can't be used against the strong, it's already quite impressive to be able to demonstrate its power against the weak. No matter who it is, seeing their attack reflected back will inevitably cause a severe blow to their confidence..."

As Si Ming pondered, he walked forward slowly but firmly.

"Don't shoot arrows, fight him in close combat with weapons. He's alone, don't be afraid!"

A group of people leaped over the antlers of the barricades, wielding knives and spears, and came with murderous intent. Each of them was full of energy and had a long breath, indicating that they were all Internal Cultivation with internal strength of level seven or above, and were proficient in combined attack techniques.

A cold glint flashed, and blades and spears were aimed at him. Si Ming was absent-minded, neither dodging nor avoiding, letting his opponent strike his body. Then he heard a muffled groan. Everyone who came into contact with him was hit by the backlash, injured and forced to retreat. The greater the force used, the more serious the injury. If True Qi was used, internal injuries would also occur.

"We need to give this move a new name. Using 'One Qi Becomes Nine Hundred' directly would cause copyright issues. We need a name that's catchy, cool, and meaningful..."

Waves of soldiers charged forward, only to retreat again, like waves crashing against a dam. These Nation of Valor soldiers were incredibly brave; after being wounded and resting for a while, they charged forward once more. Because Si Ming did not use lethal force, only wounding and not killing, they could continue in this cycle as long as they could endure the pain.

Since there was no enmity between them, Si Ming would certainly not kill them. Otherwise, if he had simply added a little force during the rebound, not only would the force of the rebound have been deflected, but the weapons would have been deflected as well, and these soldiers would have been killed long ago.

However, being constantly surrounded by weapons was also annoying and uninspiring. So Si Ming stomped his foot on the ground, and in an instant, the water on the ground surged and gushed outwards in layers, like a vast ocean flowing away into nothingness.

Within a few feet, not a drop of water remained in an instant, revealing the dry ground. All the soldiers who rushed forward were as if they had been hit head-on by a giant hammer, thrown out like rag dolls, and fell to the ground, never to get up again.

"By the way, there's no need to necessarily deflect enemy attacks. The sand and stones on the ground, the surrounding air, and the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth can all be used as obstacles to deflect them, although the power will be much weaker. It's better for me to just activate my ultimate move, which saves a lot of energy..."

At this moment, two figures rushed out from the makeshift fortress. These were the only two experts among the defenders, both with Internal Cultivation reaching level ten. Moreover, one was skilled in leg techniques and the other in fist techniques. With a set of combined fist and leg techniques, they could even fight against experts with the combat power of the Spirit Transformation stage.

One person leaped into the air, raising his leg like an eagle soaring, unleashing a whirlwind-like leg strike towards Si Ming's chest. The other person raised both hands to his shoulders, as if a raging wind was surging wildly from his body, gathering into a tangible airflow in his arms. Then, he lowered his body and attacked Si Ming's lower body.

The two fighters used leg techniques to attack the upper body and fist techniques to attack the lower body. Their offensive tactics were completely unconventional. Someone lacking martial arts experience would likely be caught off guard.

But Si Ming stretched out his hands and pushed them aside, and the two of them struck each other, their fists and legs clashing, each of them feeling their Qi and Blood boil from the shock.

Next, two experts circled around Si Ming like a revolving lantern, their fists swirling and their legs surging. But Si Ming casually waved his hand and raised his leg, deflecting the force to the side, as if he were in the very center of a tornado. Even though the wind was raging around him, it could not touch him.

"No, no, this is a technique of counterattack, which is different from the Daoist School. The two cannot be confused. The Tao Te Ching says, 'It is precisely because he does not contend that no one in the world can contend with him.' But I not only want to contend, but I also want to make my opponent contend with me. The starting point is already different."

While fending off his opponent's attacks, Si Ming pondered how to improve his moves. Then, upon seeing his opponent's combined attack, a sudden inspiration struck him.

"The Phoenix Whirlwind, Scattered Clouds!"

The two experts channeled their True Qi, unleashing a fierce wind and rising clouds. Just as they were about to launch a combined attack, they suddenly felt the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi go out of control. The light was distorted, and the scene before them became multicolored, spinning like a carousel. They couldn't understand what was happening at all; they only felt that the entire world was spinning and twisting, while they were outside of it.

At this moment, it was as if the five elements shattered before them, only to reassemble and change into a reversed pattern, from water overcoming fire to fire overcoming water. The wind and clouds became formless before them, yet they also tended to take shape. Everything was reversing, like the reverse flow of time and space, violating the original order.

Both of them screamed simultaneously, each struck by their own special move, and flew away spitting blood.

Si Ming looked at his hands, a thoughtful expression on his face. He felt as if he had grasped something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, as if it were seen through a thin veil, hazy and indistinct, as if he could pierce it with a single finger.

Just then, a flurry of footsteps broke the silence, the chaotic rhythm interrupting Si Ming's realization. It was the garrison that had finally lost their will to resist.

Group attacks are useless; even sending in highly skilled individuals will result in easy defeat. Even the most obtuse person would realize that the difference in strength between them is too great. In this situation, persisting in not retreating is not courage, but recklessness.

But Si Ming, whose train of thought had been interrupted, was clearly annoyed. He immediately snapped his fingers and called out, "Hualiu."

Hualiu, who was hiding in the back, immediately raised his bow to the sky, activated his power, and shot out a Spiritual Qi arrow that had been stored up for a long time.

"Fierce Spirit Explosive Rain!"

The arrow split midway, becoming hundreds of Spiritual Qi arrows, each with its own tracking effect, hitting the fleeing soldiers one by one and injuring them to the ground.

Si Ming said to Ji Shichen, "See, as long as we defeat all the guards, it won't hinder our infiltration."

Chapter 694 Confucian School Archery

Ji Shichen raised the Star Staff in her hand, the jade inlaid on the staff emitting a seven-colored radiance, and invisible waves probed the surrounding void. This time she also brought Hualiu with her, the two of them connected in consciousness, to ensure that every feedback was clearly captured.

A moment later, the light from the Star Staff faded.

"So, did you find anything?" Si Ming asked.

Hualiu opened his eyes and said, "There are many Monster Race. Although there aren't any at the level of the King of Monsters, there are quite a few at the next level, at least ten, and even more at the next level below that."

Si Ming recalled that he was one Divine General Level below the King of Monsters, which was equivalent to the Early Spirit Transformation realm. He was naturally not afraid of one-on-one fights with experts of this level, and could easily beat them one by one. However, he was far from being able to ignore numbers. He certainly couldn't shout the slogan "I want to fight ten people at once." The opponent's ultimate moves alone could force him to flee in panic.

The existence of ultimate moves gives every martial artist the right to challenge those above their level. After all, the martial Dao Body in this world is not the kind that says, "A mere Qi Refining Level 2 dares to challenge me, a Qi Refining Level 3 cultivator." There is no insurmountable gap between the two levels.

"At least ten Nascent Spirit Transformation, plus a large number of top experts—these are not opponents that can be easily dealt with. Could it be that Remote Heaven Society intends to cooperate with the Monster Race after the Demon Race? Do they really think the world isn't chaotic enough already?"

Si Ming originally thought that his side had enough combat power, with Ling Huanxi, Ji Shichen and Murong Qing alone at the Spirit Transformation. However, he did not expect that when they faced a strong enemy, they would still be stretched thin.

"It seems we need to request support from the country and send more Nascent Spirit Transformation. Also, there's Senior Wu. If she had set up poison nearby beforehand, it would be enough to eliminate the weaker Monster Race."

Then Si Ming asked Ji Shichen, "Are there any signs that someone has tampered with it?"

"No."

"That's strange. Heaven-Defying Society completely given up on this operation? Or are they resorting to their old tricks, trying to create a diversionary tactic, ostensibly targeting the Divine Pillar of the Northern Continent, but actually aiming at the Divine Pillar of the Southern Continent or Western Continent?"

Ji Shichen said, "It's unlikely. The Divine Pillar can't be opened just because you want to. Based on the intelligence we've gathered, opening the Divine Pillar requires two conditions. One is the right timing. Because the Divine Pillar itself travels through the Imaginary Number Space of different worlds, it only comes to the Imaginary Number Space of the Sea Continent on specific dates and stays for three to five days. If you miss this period, you have to wait for another cycle. The exact number of days in a cycle is still unconfirmed, and it's not even confirmed whether there is a fixed cycle."

The other is the human element. This requires uniting the consciousness of tens of thousands of people into a unified consciousness body to jointly summon the Divine Pillar, so that the Divine Pillar can descend from the Imaginary Number Space into the material world. When Heaven-Defying Society severed the Divine Pillar of our Su State, he relied on using broadcasts to hypnotize all the citizens of the city and unify their consciousness.

Si Ming questioned, "Then what happened last time the Divine Pillar descended? I haven't heard of any large-scale hypnosis incidents in Nation of Valor?"

Ji Shichen explained, "Besides the consciousness of the living, the consciousness of the dead can also be utilized. When a person is killed, they release strong thoughts, some of which are resentment and others are hatred. Although we don't know what method Heaven-Defying Society used to guide the consciousness of the dead and transform it into the thought of summoning the Divine Pillar, they did do so, leaving some traces in France that they couldn't erase in time."

"France? Right, the time the Divine Pillar appeared coincided with the unrest in France. So this was also part of the Heaven-Defying Society's plan!" Si Ming suddenly realized. "Therefore, the Heaven-Defying Society's secret instigation of unrest in France wasn't just to divert attention, but also to create enough bloodshed to collect the will released at the moment of death."

Ji Shichen said, "Judging from the items that the Mohist Knight Guard seized, they do indeed possess such a function. It is currently unclear whether there are other ways to summon the Divine Pillar. We have not had enough time to study the Divine Pillar, and we don't have any specific materials to study."

"This time, collecting consciousness will be even easier for them; they can collect enough from any battlefield..."