Big Data Cultivation Chapter 796

Chapter 796: Chapter 796 Attack and Defense Chapter 796: Chapter 796 Attack and Defense Beast invasions are relatively common in the Cultivation World, generally occurring once every three to five years, with the scale varying between large and small.

Here at Qiuchen Immortal Workshop, the main threats are the Crimson Flame Desert and the Green Peak Mountain Range, with the Spirit Beast territories spanning tens of millions of miles.

The reasons for the Spirit Beast invasions are many and varied, with no discernible pattern. The most significant pattern, however, is that after an invasion, there generally follows a one-to-two-year period of recuperation, during which there is a stable phase.

It has now been over three years since the last beast invasion, and the prevailing discussion is about hoping that this time will be a minor year, not a major one.

If it's a major year, then it's not just Qiuchen Immortal Workshop that will be invaded. Other areas will also face attacks from the Spirit Beasts, and the cultivators in battle might not receive support from other directions.

As for rewards? There are indeed rewards, but some earnestly suggest that now is not the time to think about rewards. The priority should be to strive for survival first.

Feng Jun was listening to their idle talk while carefully taking out his mobile phone to check for any abnormalities in his surroundings.

Actually, what he most wanted to know were two things: first, whether he could freely switch between the two dimensions on the battlefield.

Because in his understanding, whether it's the gateway to the Immortal Market or this black archway, there are obvious indications of spatial folding, and he had long realized that in such cases, switching dimensions is quite difficult.

Of course, he could choose to try it stealthily, but that brings up the second point of his apprehension: were there any Golden Cores present?

According to his knowledge, there were no Golden Cores; there were three Innate High-Rank, five or six Intermediate-Level, and over a dozen at the Initial Level. All the Innate Experts combined would likely exceed twenty in number.

But even without Golden Cores, might there be some Magical Treasures or Formations capable of detecting dimensional switching?

Feng Jun felt that this possibility wasn't very large, yet he was even more aware that no matter how small the possibility, he couldn't carelessly take risks because he couldn't afford the consequences of a failed gamble.

He planned to adapt to the situation once he was on the battlefield… by then, the chaos would be much greater, and the chances of being detected would be smaller.

He was strategizing all this while the guards reacted swiftly, being veterans well-versed in various protocols. It did not take long for the arriving thousand reinforcements to be divided into twelve teams.

Each team had a proportionate mix of experts, main forces, basic combat strength, and auxiliary combat strength.

Feng Jun, being at the High Tier of Qi Refinement, was also one of the ten experts in his thousand-person team. Above the ten High Tier Qi Refinement cultivators, there was only one Innate Initial Stage–the fact that his team was arranged this way was not due to discrimination; it was a common configuration across most teams.

The additional Innate and High Tier Qi Refinement experts served as a support team, coordinated in the center.

Feng Jun was assigned to the Geng Character Thousand-Person Team. Combined with the original guards, the force nearly amounted to twelve hundred, guarding thirty miles of city wall, which averaged to more than ten meters per person.

Of course, that's not how the calculations worked; all twelve hundred couldn't be on the front lines. Some combat strength had to be preserved for rotation and support.

But one person couldn't possibly defend thirty to forty meters of the city wall.

In fact, wall defense also varied in difficulty. In easy-to-defend areas, one person could guard hundreds of meters on their own, or even spare the need for personal guards altogether with the help of Formations.

Feng Jun wasn't appointed to the support team, perhaps because he was a Loose Cultivator by origin. He became the deputy of a five-person squad–the squad leader was only at Mid-stage Qi Refining, but he was originally from the guard force.

This wasn't due to discrimination. It was simply the rule that the guard force always understood combat better than the temporary reinforcements.

However, those in the guard force at Mid-stage Qi Refinement weren't common either. The reason this person was only the head of a five-person squad was that they were guarding a critical point.

Their position was a protrusion on the city wall, at the very frontline of resisting the Spirit Beast invasion. They were responsible not only for drawing fire but could also effectively support friendly forces–if they could spare the effort.

Besides the two of them, the remaining three consisted of two Qi Refining Initial Stage and one Innate Expert, making them a truly formidable five-person squad.

Do not underestimate an Innate Expert. In fact, of those five, aside from Feng Jun, who could physically fly, the other was the Innate Expert.

This Innate Expert was named Xia Pingan, a native of the Cultivation World. It sounded somewhat unbelievable, but his ancestors were quite renowned, a branch of the Xia Family from Guanquan Valley–despite the fact that there was no longer a Xia Family in Guanquan Valley.

Put simply, his aptitude wasn't terrific and his family didn't have much wealth, so he embarked on the path of Martial Enlightenment–whether he would truly achieve enlightenment through martial arts was something known only to the heavens.

In the Cultivation World, due to lack of resources, many who had no choice but to pursue martial arts and aspired to achieve Martial Enlightenment were indeed numerous.

Leaving other considerations aside, if your aptitude wasn't high and your family didn't have a Spirit Gathering Array, wouldn't you have to provide Spirit Stones to practice in someone else's array? But if there weren't many Spirit Stones at home, what were you to do?

One could only let those with high aptitude pursue cultivation, while those with lesser aptitude had to fend for themselves.

Xia Pingan had been looking forward to this battle for a long time. He stated unequivocally, “This is the second time I'm participating in resisting a Spirit Beast invasion. Last time I was still a High-Rank Martial Master, but now that I'm Innate, I hope to earn more merits.”

The squad leader at Mid-stage Qi Refining, also named PingAn–Ji PingAn–had the distinct characteristics of an experienced soldier. Before the enthusiasm of newcomers, his face only bore a slight sneer.

Feng Jun was a novice and couldn't help but ask how one acquires merits.

The rules were different in various parts of the Cultivation World, and since he was a Loose Cultivator, even as an Expert at the High Tier of Qi Refinement, raising this question was not a disgrace.

It turned out that merits here were calculated by ears, regardless of whether you killed a Spirit Beast or a feral beast, how many left ears of beast species you had was how many merits you had; as for the materials from the bodies of Spirit Beasts and feral beasts, whoever killed them got to keep them.

These merits could be used to exchange for cultivation resources, to be exempt from taxes and duties, or even to spend merit points to cultivate in caves; the least ambitious could even exchange merits for Spirit Stones.

But getting these ears and the materials of feral beasts wasn't so easy, killing the enemy is simple, but taking these items is difficult.

Ji PingAn was not very tall and was skinny, appearing not so intimidating, but seeing the two “experts” in the team behaving so inappropriately, he grew annoyed, withdrew a large hammer, and directly smashed Xia PingAn into the ground face-first.

He sneered and said, “If you're so great, why don't you go up to the Pillar of Clouds?”

“I will!” Xia PingAn leaped to his feet and roared, “That's exactly what I intended to do, ascend the Pillar of Clouds!”

What was the Pillar of Clouds, anyway? It was a defensive tactic, creating a column outside of the city walls from scratch, where defenders could stand on top for long-range support to the side of the wall.

To explain, the area they were defending was a salient, one quick turn away from supporting the adjacent friendly forces–defending a city was never about standing firm, it was about having crossfire cooperation.

Just like in the Earth Realm of the ancient past, where large cities had to have fortresses outside their walls to restrain the enemy's attacking forces. If all the defensive troops withdrew into the city, was the attacking side not able to attack as they pleased?

The salient that Feng Jun and his teammates were defending indeed resembled a fortress, making it the first to be hit in a beast attack.

And it was exactly such a place that was most suitable for deploying another Pillar of Clouds.

One can imagine how passive the beasts would be if there was another supporting platform outside the salient.

A Pillar of Clouds isn't something that exists just by saying so. During the construction of the city walls, placements must be arranged at specific locations and then activated during defense as needed.

Activating any Pillar of Clouds consumes a considerable cost, and if one wishes to cancel it when defense becomes difficult, that's another substantial expense.

The exterior of this salient truly had a Pillar of Clouds arrangement–if there wasn't such an arrangement here, the designer could have been dragged away and executed for a hundred years.

But just because the arrangement exists, whether it's appropriate to activate it is another matter.

Ji PingAn's face darkened, and he scoffed, “You want to activate the Pillar of Clouds… do you know the consequences if it can't be held? It won't be solved by you simply dying in battle.”

Xia PingAn, being a native of the Cultivation World, certainly knew if he requested the Pillar of Clouds himself, he would at least have to die there–unless he could survive until after the battle.

But surviving is one thing; if dead, should the Pillar of Clouds be retracted?

If it's not retracted, that could become another point of attack for the beasts. If it is to be removed, who will bear the costs?

Xia PingAn was an Innate Expert, and although the Pillar of Clouds was some distance from the city walls, he could fly physically, so it was less dangerous for him than for an average cultivator.

He glanced at Feng Jun, hesitated, and then said, “Lord Feng, what do you think? Do you support activating the Pillar of Clouds?”

Since it was a temporary conscription, he did not know that Feng Jun had also achieved Martial Enlightenment, but as the only High-Rank Qi Refining Cultivator in the squad, he felt it necessary to communicate with him.

Feng Jun pondered for a moment before speaking, “Is it possible to activate the Pillar of Clouds temporarily during combat?”

Before Xia PingAn could speak, Ji PingAn chimed in first, feeling that this High-Rank Qi Refining Cultivator's idea was more prudent, at least considering activating the Pillar of Clouds during adverse conditions in battle, unlike that impetuous Xia Family youngster, who wanted to activate the Pillar without encountering anything yet.

Therefore, he explained, “A temporary request requires a process, but activating it then would involve greater risk.”

But Xia PingAn couldn't help adding, “Lord Feng, if you are willing to take turns with me guarding the Pillar of Clouds, I'll help you collect the ears of the Spirit Beasts and feral beasts you kill.”

It turns out he also knew that guarding the Pillar of Clouds alone would be extremely difficult, so he had already planned to enlist Feng Jun's help. Whether Ji PingAn agreed or not was not the point.

How could Feng Jun readily agree? This wasn't because he was timid, but he felt it necessary to observe a bit, making blind decisions in unfamiliar territory was courting death, “Let's see how it goes first.”

Hearing this, Ji PingAn glared fiercely at Xia PingAn, “Kid, learn something, you think you're the smartest without knowing anything?”

Everyone took turns on the city wall for two days, with Feng Jun continuing to cook.

Ji PingAn was somewhat speechless about his relaxed attitude, he was tempted to comment, but the relaxed mood wasn't necessarily a bad thing, so he only instructed, “Don't cook when the fighting starts; the aroma can attract the beasts.”

The beasts came as suddenly as they were talked about, and Feng Jun had initially thought there would be some preliminary skirmishes with lone beasts, but it turned out to be a major onslaught as soon as it began.

Chapter end

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