Dual Cultivation God Returns-Chapter 981: Tools and tactics
Wu Long went on to invoke the right of the winner again, and while there were no volunteers yet, he claimed the spoils of his win, and then went up to the audience, landing on the railing of the viewing terrace and crouching on the spot.
The Disciples of both the Evil Path and Righteous Path had similarly gloomy, somewhat lost expressions this time, and regardless of the sides, some of them showed one of three base reactions to Wu Long’s arrival - fear, quiet acceptance of fate, and hostility.
"I’m not going to harm you, Drinking King here will arrange a safe passage for you to the World Stone out of here, from there on you’re on your own to return to your Sects", he announced while giving Zhao Biren a look.
The latter almost spilled the drink he was chugging, and coughed a few times. He then switched looking between Wu Long and the groups of Disciples a few times, and belatedly coughed to clear his throat, "Ah. ehem, yeah... I will, of course I will, Dear Client, I’ll arrange everything right away"
He then turned to Dead Fish who made a heavy sigh, begrudgingly nodding and taking out communication talismans to make arrangements.
"Alright then", Wu Long, meanwhile made a loud clap with both hands, seemingly to attract the attention of the Disciples back to himself.
"Now is not the time for you to speak, I may be letting you go but I’m not your friend and we’re not speaking on equal terms, I decide when you speak", Wu Long shook his head seeing that some of them were ready to say something, and those who tried anyway with rebellious attitudes, found out with horror that no sound was coming out of their mouths even if they tried speaking, "You, or at least some of you, are smart enough to know that it doesn’t really matter if I’m lying to you or not. Your fate is not in your hands right now. You’ll either follow or be forced to follow, the result won’t change. So it’s good news for you that I’m telling you the truth. Doesn’t mean I’ll be nice with you if you are not cooperative. But before I send you away, I want to ask some questions, particularly from the Lament Scripture Sect members"
The Righteous Path Sect Disciples shook, once again displaying different reactions, but Wu Long simply continued to ask without giving them time, nor returning physical ability, to reply yet, "Why are Disciples assigned to this mission and not Sect Protectors? I can understand the Blood Skull Sect, their role is support so the Disciples are here mostly to gain experience following their Elder. Perhaps it would’ve made sense to send a couple of Disciples from your side along with Sect Protectors for the same purpose as well, but a full team of Disciples? And before you think of being defiant, you have to remember your life is still in my hands. So just continue to be quiet if you don’t intend to answer, or I may change my mind on how merciful I am with you. Now, nod if you understand"
Seeing those he expected to cooperate nod, he searched for a look in the eyes that was ready to speak.
What they all didn’t see, was that at this moment there was a small white fox sitting on Wu Long’s shoulder, her eight tails swaying behind her and Wu Long as she looked at the Disciples.
Rather, from the moment he clapped, each Disciple saw his own version of reality where all others were staying silent, or exchanging glances to silence the others.
Thus, when Wu Long finally found the eyes of someone willing to speak, and nodded to him with "Go on", the latter found out that the others around him didn’t react to or object to him talking.
"Ehm...", the Disciple that Wu Long gave back the ability to produce sound, after uneasily looking around in fear of instantly attracting the ire of other Disciples, but not seeing any reaction at all, finally gulped and then rattled off his answer in one breath, "T-There was a major internal split in the Sect not long before the war with the Drifting Reeds Sect. The faction led by one of our two Grand Elders was ostracized, and most senior leaders were put under temporary arrest. This faction included all the senior leadership of the Sect Protectors Hall... so the vast majority of Sect Protectors refused to participate in action. T-this was part of the reason our Sect was required to send out the most search groups to chase after Changsun Yong and other people and groups who were sent out from the Drifting Reeds Sect before the attacks and were suspected of carrying the evidence... we got backlash from the other Sects in the Alliance for not pulling our weight in battle against the Drifting Reeds Sect as we didn’t have many Sect Protectors willing to go into battle"
"Heh, it seems your Sect is part of the Righteous Path not in name only after all... at least part of it is", Wu Long chuckled, "Although I have a suspicion that some of the other Sects had minor internal disputes over this as well... Anyway, that’s all I wanted"
He then clapped, seemingly just to get their attention again, but after which all the Disciples once again saw and heard the same reality, or rather, it felt like they all had a dream they couldn’t remember as only a moment passed in between the two claps he made in actual reality.
"...Alright then, off you go now"
He then turned to Zhao Biren again.
Soon, about two dozen men from Crow King’s Nest led by Dead Fish swiftly surrounded the Disciples and led them away as Wu Long stepped down to the floor.
"Thank you, Baihu", he chuckled while patting the little fox’s back as the latter rubbed her head against his, and then disappeared as if her presence was just a beautiful dream.
Wu Long then affectionately hugged Hong Ye who approached him with Hong Yue, and after spending some time with them until someone volunteered to fight with him, came down to the fighting pit again.
—
During the time there were no volunteers yet and Wu Long was dealing with the Disciples and then spending time with Hong Ye, the commentator filled the gap with a conversation.
"Since it looks like our Titan Slayer wants a series of fights, and they are all high level, for the benefit of our audience members who have yet to reach Seven Profound Realms, we have invited a special guest who is a Metal Attribute Cultivator as well... please welcome our friend Steel Bastion, a close associate of the Crow King’s Right Guardian"
"Good evening"
"Since our Mortal audience may have only an abstract understanding of fights between Transcendents, let’s cover the basics first. Starting with Hearts of Iron that our Titan Slayer uses... many would wonder why would a Metal Attribute Cultivator need them if they can just store metal in their Spatial Ring"
"Sure", compared to the upbeat and spirited tone of the commentator, his expert guest was speaking in a monotone voice, making quite a contrast, "The Hearts of Iron are not just storage artifacts, but specialized focus tools. The same goes for Source of Flow for Water which is usually a bottle or a gourd, Crucible of Flame for Fire - typically a torch or a lantern, Obelisk of Solidity for Earth - often a stone tablet or stele, and Vessel of Life for Wood which in most cases is a pot"
"Incredible! And, presumably, Metal Attribute Cultivators, like all others, can manipulate their element without them...?"
"Yes, in fact many who can’t afford a Heart of Iron do so. But, a human Cultivator usually has only two hands, which are the primary tool of control over any element for humans, each Heart of Iron is like another hand... so the more of them you have, the more ’hands’ you have. It is a crude comparison but should explain the logic at least roughly"
"Fascinating! And there are other functions?"
"Yes, all focus tools expand the area over which you can control an Element - it doesn’t increase the overall amount of material element you can control which depends on many factors like skill and mental capacity, but it does increase physical area of precise control"
"Amazing!", the commentator exclaimed, but those who paid attention and with sharp ears could hear him add immediately after that in a low, extremely frustrated voice, "Please, work with me here! I’m dying trying to make you talk!", and then continued in his usual showman voice, "Can you give us more details?"
"Ehem", the guest slightly uncomfortably cleared his throat, "For example, in the first fight, when that... Titan Slayer made the final trap using all the metal that fell to the ground of the fighting pit, many in the audience might have missed the fact that instead of keeping the Hearts of Iron by his side like he did during the fight, he sent them out to different corners of the fighting pit before summoning them back. He did so to expand the area he controlled with precision. The Hears of Iron, like any other focus tools, also often have auxiliary and additional functions that depend on the creativity and skill of the Spiritual Treasure’s creator. Some may allow one to put in expendable catalysts and enhancers that may boost or augment the performance of a particular element. And, being additional ’hands’ as I said, also allows for more complex manipulation of elements, it’s like having more angles from which you can exert influence on your element material, which is, crucial for Metal Attribute Cultivators in particular"
"And mind you please tell us why is that?", there was now frustration even in the loud showman’s voice of the commentator, but before they could continue, the next volunteer to fight with Wu Long finally appeared, so he had to shift gears to promote bets and odds for some time.
He only returned to the conversation as the fight between Wu Long and the other cultivator was starting, "Ehem, you were saying that more complex manipulation is..."
"Oh, yes, ehm, it’s especially important for Metal Attribute Cultivators. ...! Because! Because the defining characteristic of Metal and it’s complementary Dao Concept is ’Structure’. Metal has to be structured to be properly used. Poorly structured metal is too soft when you want it to be hard, too brittle or too hard when you want it to be soft and bendy, has critical weakpoints and points of failure when you want it to be robust, and so on. This is why it is very hard for us to control metal which is in the shape of fine powder or dissolved in water or other substances... it requires a precision of control to manipulate. It is also precisely the reason the... what’s his face... Skull Warrior was so confident in going against... Titan Slayer, because as Metal’s weakness in Destructive Cycle of Elements, Water’s corroding influence is detrimental to the metal’s structure. And, oh, as you can see, the reason the new challenger had the courage to go against Titan Slayer is because he is a Fire Element Cultivator, even if he has no Crucible of Flame, he still should make for a good challenge, because Fire is Metal’s Weakness in Restraining Cycle of Elements, also because it melts, deforms and transforms metal’s structure"
"Indeed! It seems that this will be another exciting fight for us! Thank you for your useful commentary, our dear guest expert, oh! There go chunks of melting metal falling to the ground! And unlike the previous fight the Titan Slayer doesn’t stand his ground, adopting a moving and evading strategy like in the first fight, only now high up in the air since his opponent... let’s call him Flame Serpent because of his attacks... also doesn’t want to be close to the ground... It’s a rough start for Titan Slayer! Hmm? He seems to not be using the drill-like defensive technique?"
"Yes, it is a correct response to go for bulkier heavy plate-like defenses against fire instead of spinning or rapid-movement defenses that could jam up due to melting"
"Aha! I see! Titan Slayer also is not using the chained lances from the previous fight, opting for less expensive launch of small sharp spikes, oh, now this is getting interesting, instead of keeping all three Hearts of Iron near him he sent out two in different directions!"
"Yes, see, that is exactly one of the advantages of having multiple Hearts of Iron, as now he can attack his opponent... ah, yes, eh... the Flame Serpent, from three different directions, like that, see how he has to send more fire around him to defend now? And it is not wise for the Flame Serpent to attack the artifacts - it would decrease the focus of attacks on the Titan Slayer, and it would also likely only have marginal effects - Hearts of Iron are forged to be as sturdy as defensive artifacts to be used as such in emergencies"
"Yes! By diversifying the angle of attacks the Titan Slayer forced the Flame Serpent from his stationary position in the center of the fighting pit airspace to move around as well! Wow! What’s this?!"
A sudden deafeningly loud explosion rang out, sending hot steam in all directions, instantly filling the whole fighting pit up to the ceiling of the underground chamber.
"It’s the Water Absorption Pills from the previous fight!", the guest expert shouted for the first time sounding almost as excited as the commentator, "Those expanded pills he collected after the fight are a pure concentration of massive amounts of water! Instantly heated up under the intense flames that could even melt strong metal - this is an instant water evaporation explosion!"
The arena’s formation cleared the steam to clear the view almost immediately, but that brief moment in the steam was enough for a major change, the ’Flame Serpent’ emerged out of it full of steam burns and skewered with several metal spikes, falling to the ground, and on the other side, came out a large metal cocoon, which gradually opened up to reveal completely unscathed Wu Long.
