Pre-Battle Preparations

Preparations Before Battle

Though black mages and dark mages differed by only one word, they were worlds apart. Dark mages dealt with the undead; through mental power and special magical incantations, they could summon some undead and the like from alternate spaces to aid them in battle. Their cultivation of mental power was the same as other mages, relying on meditation to cultivate it.

Black mages were different. In their early stages, they increased their mental power by refining the souls of living people, and rarely meditated. Of course, once they reached a certain rank, trying to improve their cultivation through that method became useless, and they still had to rely on meditation.

As an old saying on the Yalan Continent went, dark mages dealt with corpses, while black mages dealt with the living.

Li Junshan thought this over as he walked back to his stone chamber. It was only around noon, and with nothing to do for the moment, he casually took out a Space Ring and began looking through it.

"Huh, what's this?" Li Junshan spotted a black iron plate lying dark and heavy in a corner of the ring's space. With a thought, he took it into his hand.

It was a piece of broken iron, pitch-black and made of some unknown material. It felt icy cold and weighty in his hand. The front had some strange patterns and designs, while the back was covered in line-like symbols that seemed to be writing Li Junshan did not recognize.

"Could this be some divine artifact or treasure?" Li Junshan circulated a bit of mental power and tried to examine it, but who would have thought that the broken iron plate was like an insulator? His mental power could not penetrate it at all.

Unable to suppress his curiosity, Li Junshan took out that black sharp blade and cut a line across his finger, dripping a few drops of blood onto the broken iron plate.

"Sss..." A faint sound came from the broken iron plate. Like a sponge, it actually absorbed every last drop of the blood Li Junshan had dripped onto it, leaving not even the slightest trace behind.

Li Junshan tried using his mental power to explore it again, but his mental power and the broken iron plate were like the north and south poles of a magnet. The moment they touched, they abruptly bounced apart.

"As if I'd be lucky enough to randomly pick up a divine artifact." Li Junshan laughed at himself. Still, seeing that the broken iron plate had not been corroded by his blood, he figured there had to be something special about it, so he casually tossed it into his Space Ring.

Since he had nothing else to do, he sat down on the stone bed and began cultivating his mental power.

Entering meditation was quite quick. Before long, his mind became clear and empty. He sat there for most of the day, but it still had not had the slightest effect.

"This is driving me to death with worry." Li Junshan felt helpless. Suddenly thinking of that mass of battle aura, he stopped meditating to cultivate mental power and sat with his eyes closed. The warm mass of battle aura in his lower abdomen flowed through his limbs and bones, and Li Junshan felt an indescribable comfort.

The first time he awakened the Xenomorph genes had been when he succeeded while cultivating battle aura in Windfire Town. After that, Li Junshan had never given up cultivating battle aura, but just like his mental power that seemed to have sunk into a swamp, his battle aura cultivation had not progressed in the slightest either.

Just like that, for two days straight, aside from eating, Li Junshan stayed in his stone chamber cultivating mental power and battle aura, not daring to wander around outside.

During the day, there were very few people around, and he did not know where they all went. Only at dusk did they return one after another. Later, when Li Junshan asked Guli, he learned that during the day, they would go to another place to practice, and would also take the chance to go into the forest to see if they might encounter a summoned beast more suitable for themselves.

Two days passed quickly. Early in the morning on the third day, Li Junshan went to the hotel where they had first met. When he went in and took a look, Robin and the others had already all arrived.

After calling a maid to bring food and wine, the group ate while chatting.

"I've already confirmed things on the warriors' side. They'll send out two Grand Battle Masters, one who cultivates fire-type battle aura, and one who cultivates lightning-type battle aura," Robin said to the others while drinking.

The others had long since mentioned the candidates their own professions would send. At this moment, everyone felt slightly more settled.

On the mages' side, a water-type Magus against an earth-type Magus was a roughly even match without much disparity. It would depend on their experience facing enemies on the spot and their individual performance.

On the assassins' side, according to Blondi, victory was also practically assured. No one doubted it. After all, he had been able to emerge victorious alone from a ten-person elimination match, so he certainly had his own unique strengths.

In a battle like this, one could not deny that a priest had some effect, but in the end, that effect was not great. As an advanced priest, Bertha was unable to cast Soul Fire, which could increase a warrior's defense and the power of their battle aura. Her only skill was Holy Light Healing, and its effect was not particularly obvious. Hearing that the other side was also sending out an advanced priest, everyone automatically ignored her side.

As for the warriors, there was even less need to mention them. Elvis was a Grand Battle Master, and Robin was a Battle Saint, while the other side would only send out two Grand Battle Masters. Barring any surprises, their side held the advantage firmly.

The only problem now was Li Junshan's side. Everyone looked at him. The trio had long since guessed that he was the summoner of the Xenomorphs, and after witnessing those ghostlike, elusive Xenomorphs, they naturally had some confidence in Li Junshan.

Hatred? The trio wisely set it aside for now.

"Xiaoshan, the other side is a full rank higher than you, and he also has a level-seven magical beast. I'm sure you know about the Mystic Water Yin Snake. Not only is it infinitely strong and covered in incredibly hard scales, it can also spew poisonous magical black smoke. It's extremely troublesome."

Li Junshan smiled faintly and said, "There's no need to discuss this issue. Everyone can be completely at ease with my side. How we coordinate tomorrow is what we need to consider."

"You can arrange things yourselves." Blondi still had the same dead-man's face as he said, "I'll definitely be acting alone. An assassin standing out in the open is like a naked virgin standing in the middle of the street. Very dangerous."

The others could not help but freeze, though it was not because of his arrangement. No one had expected the icy-cold Blondi to tell such a deadpan joke at a time like this.

Bertha cursed inwardly and lowered her head.

"Mm." Without realizing it, Robin had become the backbone of the group. He nodded and said, "Then what about the rest? If anyone has any ideas, let's hear them."

Everyone began discussing in a flurry of voices, and they did not settle on a plan until noon.

Mages had the greatest damage output, but they could not allow anyone to get close. Robin and Elvis would protect him at close range, and Bertha would also stay within that range. Li Junshan, however, was like Blondi and insisted on acting alone. Robin disagreed at first, but seeing that the trio had no objections, while Blondi looked as if it had nothing to do with him, Robin alone could not persuade Li Junshan and had no choice but to give up.

By the time all the details were settled, it was already afternoon. The group split the bill for the meal and went back separately to prepare.

Li Junshan returned to the place where the summoners lived and unexpectedly saw Guli standing in front of his stone cave. Before he had even walked over, Guli saw him and could not help looking delighted. He came over and said, "Mr. Gelu asked me to bring you something. I've been waiting for you for ages."

"Come sit inside." Li Junshan smiled and brought him into his stone cave. He was not in a hurry to ask. He took several bottles of Bloody Anya from his Space Ring and placed them on the stone table, smiling as he said, "I saw you liked drinking, so I picked up a few bottles for you on the way back."

Over the past few days, he had only dealt with Guli. Seeing that this man's nature could be considered honest and that he enjoyed good wine, Li Junshan, now flush with money, did not care about this bit of expense and casually brought a few bottles for Guli.

Sure enough, when Guli saw the five bottles of Bloody Anya, his eyes lit up. He did not stand on ceremony and swept them all into his own Space Ring in one go, grinning at Li Junshan as he said, "Thank you, Xiaoshan. I haven't drunk this Bloody Anya in years. Just thinking about that taste makes my throat itch."

Li Junshan smiled and said, "What did Mr. Gelu have you bring me?"

Guli reached into his clothes, then held out a clenched fist to Li Junshan with a mysterious look on his face, slowly opening his palm.

"Huh!" Li Junshan could not help exclaiming in curiosity. In Guli's huge palm lay a mass of pitch-black, threadlike material. Under the sunlight streaming in through the skylight, it gave off a clear, dazzling glow.

"What is this?" Li Junshan took it into his hand and felt that it was not particularly cold; instead, it had a warm feeling. He gave it a light shake, and only then did he see clearly that it was a vest-like silk garment, extremely elastic and tough.

"This is silk armor made from the silk of the White Fire Snow Spider of Taylor Snow Mountain." Guli looked at it enviously and said, "Not only can it defend against ordinary weapons, it also isn't afraid of poisonous things invading. Mr. Gelu said that we summoners have weak bodies and can't let others get close. If you wear this Snow Spider Silk Armor, you'll have a few more layers of insurance in tomorrow's removal match."

Li Junshan knew very well that Gelu had done this because he had seen his Black Dragon Xenomorph, but hearing it still warmed his heart. He said to Guli, "Mr. Gelu didn't ask me to go get it, but had you deliver it instead, so I shouldn't disturb him. Brother Guli, if you see Mr. Gelu, please express my gratitude to him on my behalf."

Guli acknowledged him, then walked to Li Junshan's side and patted his shoulder. His expression turned somewhat grave as he said, "Daxi's Mystic Water Yin Snake is very sinister. If you run into him, it's best to keep your distance and not fight him head-on."

Li Junshan nodded and gave him a grateful smile.

"All right, get some rest. After you come back tomorrow, we'll have a proper drink." As Guli spoke, he gave Li Junshan an encouraging smile, then turned and walked out.

Only after Li Junshan watched him leave did he look away. He set the Snow Spider Silk Armor on the stone table, took the black blade from his Space Ring, and hacked down hard. When he picked it up to check, the silk armor was completely intact, without so much as a scratch.

Delighted, Li Junshan took off his outer robe and put it on. The Snow Spider Silk Armor was extremely elastic and did not look too large or too small. It fit perfectly.

"After tomorrow's elimination match, I'll truly be part of Blood Canyon." Li Junshan felt a little excited.

The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, Li Junshan woke, recalled the Xenomorph that had been keeping watch by the stone door during the night, and had just stepped outside when he saw Guli waiting at the entrance.

"Mr. Gelu and the others have already gone to the canyon entrance. Xiaoshan, are you ready?" Guli stood up and asked.

Li Junshan nodded. Neither of them said anything more, and they headed toward the canyon entrance.