The Ancient Divine Weapon

Arithmetic, as the foremost of the five traditional arts of the Xuanmen (Daoist school), is the foundation of all things and the path to immortality. It is an indispensable part of Li Fan's magical adventure. Actually, we haven't had time to explain it properly yet, right? So let's talk about (water) (water).

Arithmetic, of course, is not just about arithmetic. Although Li Fan's mathematical knowledge before his transmigration was only at the level of an ordinary person, with the ability to remember everything he saw and the assistance of the system, after several months of focused cultivation, pure arithmetic problems were no longer a problem for him.

However, memorizing divination and mental arithmetic are merely problem-solving processes. Beyond 'calculation,' there is another 'technique,' which falls into the category of magic similar to seeking divine guidance.

Taking this mecha as an example, simply put, Li Fan first used Lou Guan Guandao's arithmetic method to meditate on the various "causes" of "Heavenly Soldiers", "Imperial Order", "Heavenly Craftsmanship", "Divine Cult", "Lu Qi", and "Lu Xing", and then spread his Divine Sense outwards, asking heaven and earth, following the guidance of inspiration, and finding the "result" of his question.

It sounds quite mysterious, and it's actually quite fantastical. After all, it varies from person to person. People have different aptitudes for arithmetic, and their reaction to the 'inspiration' given by heaven is also different. Some people with sensitive minds can calculate more accurately, while some people with dull senses and dull minds are far less accurate.

Moreover, the scope of one's ability to calculate cause and effect will be supported by the fortune of the sect and the nation. For example, if the abbot calculates matters concerning Ink Bamboo Mountain and the territory of Li Country, he will be more accurate, but if he calculates matters concerning Emei, he will be less accurate.

Li Fan suffered because of this. Of course, it wasn't that he was insensitive and couldn't sense anything; even the most insensitive person has Si Nan. The problem was that every time he performed a divination, the scope was extremely large, and he sensed things from all directions! Moreover, there were always seven or eight particularly strong ones that were impossible to distinguish! This is also a common method of concealing the secrets of heaven, cutting off all the 'causes' and giving incorrect 'effects,' all of which can interfere with the arithmetic.

Therefore, without collecting as many 'causes' as possible to increase the filtering conditions, Li Fan would find it almost impossible to deduce the specific 'effect' he was asking about from a large pile of 'effects'. As a result, every time he divined the Nangong Seven Thieves, he would end up wandering aimlessly around the mountain, collecting a huge pile of rubbish to throw into the warehouse...

Fortunately, this time it was alright. Lu Xing specifically named it as the Rampage Mecha Divine Weapon, and its origin was the same as what Du Gongshi had said. Li Fan strongly sensed the target's location and immediately used his sword escape to chase after it. When the distance was close, even the Si Nan stopped pointing randomly and clearly pointed to the target, so naturally there was no mistake.

Li Fan then used his escape light to descend from the clouds and saw a large landowner's manor on the plain. The outer perimeter was surrounded by earthen walls resembling a fortress, and inside there were arrow towers and watchtowers. Servants and retainers lived and guarded the core of the manor, which was built like a fortified village.

This country villa is a typical ancestral home and property of a noble family from Li Country. The surrounding fields, forests, and mineral resources all belong to this family. The entire village and town's population consists of serfs and servants who have sold themselves to the landlord's family for generations. Judging from the feng shui and array arrangement of the central fortified area, it should also be a small to medium-sized Cultivation Family. Perhaps their ancestors produced some patriarchs, and there are some experts at the Golden Core stage in the family?

Yes, people used to be, but now they're all dead.

The fortified village had been blasted open, with half of it collapsed, and corpses were scattered everywhere on the ground. At a glance, there were probably a thousand dead. However, the outer earthen village gate was not damaged, so it did not look like it had been breached by a large army.

Was it that rampaging mech that slaughtered the village?

Li Fan examined the scattered corpses around him, but then thought they didn't quite look like corpses. They were more like pieces of human skin that had been eaten, with the tops of the skulls pierced and the flesh beneath the skin turned into a thick paste, completely absorbed, leaving only a layer of light-colored gelatinous substance. A strong, pungent stench wafted through the bloody air around him.

The monster, possibly a demon transformed from evil.

Did this mech come here to vanquish demons and monsters?

Strangely, Li Fan didn't find any mechs, divine weapons, or monster corpses in the vicinity, nor did he detect Divine Sense fluctuations from living beings. His senses stopped there. Whether there was a secret barrier around them, or someone was interfering and obscuring the secrets of heaven, remained unknown.

So Li Fan first carefully searched around the manor, but unfortunately Si Nan was unreliable again. One minute he would lead him to find a few boxes of precious jade, the next he would lead him to dig up a few jars of gold, and in short, he started picking up trash again.

It seems the Kun has discovered some hidden clue! It swam out on its own!

Could it be a secret chamber that only a Kun (a mythical fish) can enter?

Li Fan was overjoyed, and so he followed Kun to... the kitchen...

Kun: 'Tch, even the tofu's turned sour...'

You've finished eating!

Just as Li Fan lost his trail and was considering casting another divination to determine the whereabouts of the divine weapon, a sudden thought struck him, and he noticed something amiss.

So he temporarily forgot about Kun, who was still stealing leftovers, and went out to check the human skins scattered all over the ground, and couldn't help but feel a little strange.

Well, he's seen dead people all the time; the creatures transformed by the Tai Su Demon are all incredibly diverse. A pile of thousands of human skins isn't such a terrible sight now.

However, based on Li Fan's general experience, the food had gone bad, meaning the person had been dead for several days. Why weren't there maggots on the flesh? It smelled so foul, yet not even flies had appeared; shouldn't it have been rotting by now?

He unfolded the human skins, wrapped them around a stone, washed away the blood, and examined them closely. He found that the expressions of the dead seemed quite calm, not like those of people being chased by demons or experiencing the horror of flesh dissolving. Moreover, they all seemed to be handsome men and beautiful women, with few calluses on their hands. They looked more like scholars and geishas than farmers.

Li Fan leaned closer and sniffed carefully, trying to discern the stench. He could indeed detect a different aroma beneath the thick stench of blood and flesh.

The smell of the medicinal herbs.

The skin must have been soaked in chemicals beforehand to prevent decay and insects.

Could it be... that instead of a demon god coming to massacre the village, the village was originally inhabited by creatures disguised in human skin...?

After some calculations, Li Fan flew into the air and circled around, carefully observing the location of the fortified village and examining the building materials. He roughly figured out where the divine weapon and the other items in the village were now hidden.

So he drew a bunch of sword talismans and arranged them near the fortress. Then he put the Kun in his sleeve, stood it on top of the fortress, and waited for nightfall, looking up at the moon.

Sure enough, once the False Moon appeared, things that were unclear during the day became clearly visible.

When the False Moon was at its zenith, purple moonlight, like silken ribbons, poured down and refracted along the bronze mirrors hidden under the eaves of the fortified village, creating a passageway that shone into the central living room of the village, where a 'door' opened in the ground.

That's really good.

If Li Fan wasn't mistaken, this fortified village was newly built. The landlord family here must have obtained some kind of celestial book or evil technique, and created an altar for cultivating the Tai Su Dao. They even specially designed it so that the 'door' was hidden inside the fortified village, preventing others from discovering that they were secretly practicing the Tai Su demonic path.

By opening the Door Opening like that, there's a high chance the entire village will have already been replaced by what's on the other side of the door.

Although the fortress had a large hole in it, which somewhat affected the 'door' projected by the moonlight passage, Li Fan's main body could enter and exit the Void Abyss without the aid of a magic array. He simply opened his eyes and calmed his mind, and passed through directly.

Sure enough, as soon as he landed, Li Fan sensed the location of the Heavenly Soldiers. Dust billowed up not far away, and the deafening sounds of mountains crashing and rocks shattering were clearly the fighting style of Martial God. It was obvious that the berserk mechs were engaged in a fierce battle with the demon gods Non-Thing.

As for this Non-Thing... oh my god, how disgusting...

Li Fan's mood dropped significantly.

It's truly a form of spiritual pollution; maggots and flies are everywhere.

Maggots and flies with human heads...

It wasn't a fly that gnawed out a human head and wore it on someone's head; it was a real fly the size of a person, with a human head.

How to describe it? If you understand the difference between beast girls and beastmen girls, it will be easier to imagine. These fly-people are similar in nature. Some look more complete, while others retain compound eyes, antennae, and mouthparts, but their skin is quite fair and smooth. Perhaps they were modeled after the skin of Kabuki actors?

Well, every time Li Fan felt there was something he hadn't seen or couldn't accept, he really, oh my god... didn't want to make a move...

Kun was overjoyed! Kun leaped! Kun! Inhaled the whirlwind!

So, like a small motor, Kun started sucking with its mouth agape, while the dense swarms of human-headed flies and maggots around it screamed as they were sucked into Kun's mouth and turned into nothingness.

Kun: 'This tastes great!'

Ugh... this Kun is no good...

"Who killed my offspring!"

A dark cloud loomed overhead, and the demon god standing atop it roared in fury.

Fortunately, this was at least a demon at the Transformation Stage, and his cultivation made him look human, so you couldn't tell he was a maggot anymore.

"This isn't too disgusting," Li Fan breathed a sigh of relief, then flicked his finger, sending out a cluster of flames.

"True Yang Transforms Evil Dao Fire"

This move was a Daoist technique created by Li Fan, imitating the cultivation path of Ling Guang's Myriad Transformations Profound Fire. Of course, the True Yang Dao Fire was limited, and its spectacle and output effects were far inferior to the previous light cannon; it looked like a small rocket was being fired.

Thus, the fly ancestor was caught completely off guard and fell into the trap. The True Yang Dao Fire landed on his chest and ignited right there. In a flash of light, the demon god's true form exploded.

"Ancestor!"

The flies gathered together and formed a new ancestor. However, their cultivation level had dropped to the Nascent Soul Realm. So weak...

Li Fan snapped his fingers, and his twin swords Sword Light, instantly cleaving the Fly Ancestor in two, his head severed from his body.

The resurrected ancestor was still at the Nascent Soul Realm, but his cultivation level had clearly decreased. It seems that the strength of the ancestor is directly related to the number of flies that make him up.

If they won't die unless they kill all these flies, they're actually quite strong...

"You! It's you!"

It died twice in less than three moves. The Fly Ancestor was shocked and immediately turned to run away. Its disciples and followers surrounded it in layers, transforming into a giant fly to escape.

Oh, you still recognize him? Looks like the demons in this Li Country are all pretty respectful these days...

Li Fan shrugged, seeing the Kun constantly nudging him, and understood its meaning. He grabbed the Kun's tail and threw it into the swarm of large flies like a baseball.

Kun is overjoyed! Kun! Inhales with super-fast speed!!

The flies cried out in pain and visibly scattered in all directions.

Honestly, did eating sand cause an injury...?

Since there was fish food that Kun was willing to eat raw, Li Fan didn't compete with it. He ordered the Golden Dragon White Star Sword Light to fly to Kun's side to protect them, letting the three of them team up to level up, while he flew to the Heavenly Soldiers Armor.

At first, he thought that the flies had trapped the Martial God War, but upon closer inspection, he realized that wasn't the case; it was the Martial God chasing after the flies and swatting them.

This is a soldier figure with the armor of the Ancient Immortal Palace soldier as its body and mechanical puppets as its skeleton. The Lu Family originally had a secret method for making puppet assassins. When Lu Xing made the Lotus Arm back then, it was clear that she had a talent in this area. This mechanical puppet that she prepared for her own use was even more ingeniously made.

However, it must be said that the Mechanical Puppet created by Lu Xing themselves are not very powerful in combat. The main reason is that the remnant soul of the Martial God, which controls the body through armor, is quite skilled.

Because the Lu Family's artificial body was just a divine weapon antique when choosing materials, they never expected the remnant soul inside to awaken. Moreover, many of the mechanical parts were obviously never completed. Otherwise, if Lu Chai had put on this Nascent Soul Stage level body, Li Fan would definitely have died.

Lu Xing, with substantial financial support from his family, spent several years repairing and patching the weapon until it could move freely like a mechanical puppet. Although the materials were of Nascent Soul Stage level strength, it lacked any weapons, runes, spells, or other auxiliary equipment, rendering it undoubtedly powerless and unable to even fly. Yes, unable to fly...

But this was just a remnant soul and a broken body. It escaped to the vicinity of the border island and fought a great battle with the Fly Demon God. It was fighting flies with its bare hands. With one charge, it smashed a pile of flies. It fought all the way to the Tai Su Realm without stopping. It even made a mountain of flies pile up on the ground.

If that Fly Ancestor hadn't been able to fly, merge with other forms, and escape to the Tai Su Realm to hide, he probably would have been beaten to death with a single punch long ago. His abilities are truly admirable.

Whether it was from killing too many people or from gradually regaining consciousness, the remnant soul of the Martial God had exited its berserk state. Instead of charging straight at Li Fan to fight, it stood still and pointed at Li Fan. Then, a deep, cold male voice boomed back, following the Divine Sense's probe.

"Are you human or a demon?!"

It's good that we can communicate; these swarms of dead flies, with splattered juice all over their armor, Li Fan really not want to fight...

"I am Qingyue, a disciple of Louguan Ink Bamboo Mountain Lou Guan Dao."

"What mountain? What path? I've never even heard of it!"

Well, luckily Li Fan was prepared and directly took out the prepared imperial edict and golden seal.

"You recognize the Guan Nei Hou bestowed by the Immortal Palace and presented by the Grand Tutor, right? You surely recognize the seal affixed by the Ziwei Yuan!"

Unexpectedly, the mecha waved its hand...

"Hmph! What's so special about this kind of minor title! As long as one's ancestors were from a noble or high-ranking family, they can all receive such a title. There are so many of them in the Jingji and within the pass. That's what makes Guan Nei Hou within the Pass! I am Guan Nei Hou within the Pass! Don't give me this nonsense! I have a legitimate military position!"

Tsk...

"Wait a minute, I remember it being written there... Does this count as a rank of 3rd-grade Flying Cavalry Captain?"

Although it was a mecha, Li Fan inexplicably felt that the other party was looking at him with suspicion.

"... You think you can be promoted to the rank of Flying Cavalry Captain with the third rank of Merit? Show me the imperial edict!"

This guy is so annoying...

So Li Fan directly handed the imperial edict to the other party for verification, and the mecha touched the talisman and recited it word by word.

"... He fought bravely and achieved great victories, defeating 400,000 northern barbarians from Yinshan, beheading their leader and returning victorious. He was awarded the rank of Flying Cavalry Captain for his meritorious service... Ah~~!"

Then, with a clang, the mecha knelt on one knee, clasped its hands in a gesture of respect, and bowed.

"Li Gan of the Xuantian Division, pays respects to his superior!"

"Huh? You also have the surname... Wait, Xuan Tian? You know Xuan Tian?"

"Biaoxia doesn't understand the superior's meaning. The Twenty-Eight Mansions are usually divided into four directions to guard the royal capital. In times of war, they are divided into nine fields, with generals leading troops from the six divisions. If there is trouble in the north, the Four Constellations of Nu, Xu, Wei, and Shi will be sent out to form the Xuantian Army. Generals will then be selected from the war gods of the six divisions to lead the troops."

Upon hearing this, Li Fan exclaimed, "Good heavens! They're selecting generals and soldiers from the Six Ministries and the Twenty-Eight Mansions Guards for the expedition? Doesn't that mean this guy is even more senior than the Eight Feudatories' army...?"

Now he understood. What they meant by "the heavens have nine fields, the earth has nine provinces" was the northern Xuantian. When the world was divided in this way, the Immortal Palace probably didn't yet have the Three Enclosures Twelve Countries.

Then the mecha changed its previous cold tone, and its voice became enthusiastic and excited.

"I, Biaoxia, died in battle during the Northern Expedition the Demon Emperor's Palace in Yinshan! I never imagined that Flying Cavalry Captain would possess such abundant martial prowess! To be able to slay the enemy leader amidst a million demons and return victorious! It is truly my honor to meet such a peerless hero as you! Please let me become your armor and use me to your heart's content!"

Li Fan broke out in a cold sweat. "Ten Thousand Demons... well, it's alright. Actually, there was some boasting involved when they reported their achievements, and times have changed. Tens of thousands of years have passed, and the Northern Barbarians of Yinshan aren't as formidable as they used to be... Oh, right! Brother Li, have you ever met the Immortal Venerable?"

The mecha was quite honest; "I saw it from afar when the troops were being mustered before leaving the Wang Jing, but I didn't get a clear look. However, I've seen it in portraits and statues."

Li Fan couldn't contain his curiosity any longer, "What does he look like? I mean, can I witness the might of this Human Race hero?"

So the mech transmitted an image to me through its Divine Sense.

The scene is roughly as if the celestial lord stands on the command platform, waving to receive his loyal army.

Thus, Li Fan also witnessed the Immortal Venerable in person.

Hmm... he's a fat guy...