Chapter 604: Small test

Shen Shuibi began to make her arrangements.

Under her triple assault, the People of No Return temporarily settled down and began to study the star map.

The People of No Return temporarily set aside their prejudices, and they were all very happy.

Because, whether they believed in Shaman Dao or not, they certainly all detested Human Dao.

Now that they had obtained the Human Dao's deployment information from Shaman Dao, and could even communicate and exchange intelligence with Shaman Dao's scouts in the future, this was definitely a good thing. Even if they didn't believe in Shaman Dao, they could still use this intelligence to do their own things.

Meanwhile, on Gou Lou's side, the People of No Return who chose to believe in Shaman Dao were even more excited.

This meant… revenge was within reach.

Shen Shuibi began to call everyone to join the discussion, to deliberate on tactics, how to execute them, and how to achieve the greatest results in the first surprise battle.

The first action was especially crucial.

Because after this, Human Dao would become aware of the existence of the People of No Return and would then be on guard.

Therefore, they had to hit Human Dao as hard as possible, injure them, and ideally even make Human Dao suffer a major loss in large-scale army battles during the first encounter.

The People of No Return discussed heatedly, their hatred supporting them in these deductions, striving for perfection.

However, Shen Shuibi did not get involved.

Let them discuss.

Her focus was not on causing a disturbance; this was merely an incidental action.

The significance of the People of No Return's existence was not limited to this.

Seeing that the main business had begun, Shen Shuibi turned to Gou Lou and Cha Xike: "Let the people below handle the rest. Let's create a quiet area and discuss the main business."

"Main business? Besides this, there's more main business?" Gou Lou asked in surprise.

"Yes, causing a little trouble for Human Dao, those People of No Return are only doing the work of flies and mosquitoes. Do the two of you only want to be flies and mosquitoes?" Shen Shuibi asked.

"Human Dao is so powerful, what more can we do?" Gou Lou immediately retorted.

Human Dao was so powerful, and they, a group of Fifth-Grade Cultivators, could usually swagger in the outer domains, but in front of Human Dao, weren't they just flies and mosquitoes?

"On a balanced scale, even an extra speck of dust can cause it to tip, let alone a mosquito. I came here this time not just to cause trouble for Human Dao. My true goal is… to destroy The Axis of All Realms's base stations, allowing Shaman Dao to launch a full counterattack and completely overturn this battle zone," Shen Shuibi said, her tone still light.

Saying this, she waved her hand slightly, and the surroundings were enveloped by Yin Qi, completely separating them from the outside, temporarily forming a secret room.

From her appearance until now, her tone had remained unchanged, always so indifferent.

However, despite the identical tone, Gou Lou and Cha Xike perceived a different feeling.

Completely overturn… this battle zone?

One must know that all the People of No Return were actually people from the worlds within this battle zone.

Overturning the battle zone was, in fact, helping them get revenge; they could reclaim what originally belonged to their worlds.

Though there certainly wouldn't be much left.

"What method do you have?!" Cha Xike, who had been silent, became anxious and immediately pressed the question.

Shen Shuibi calmly replied: "The deployment of Human Dao's army must be calculated by The Axis of All Realms. All logistics, and even the construction of war fortresses, are heavily reliant on The Axis of All Realms."

"Perhaps some Mohist Cultivators can independently build war fortresses without The Axis of All Realms, but at this scale, Human Dao cannot produce so many Mohist Cultivators. Without The Axis of All Realms, Human Dao will be unable to large-scale construct new war fortresses and unable to maintain this high-mobility surprise attack. Their units' inter-communication will be cut off. Therefore, our target is The Axis of All Realms's base stations. Destroying them will allow Shaman Dao to strike at the vital point and break through this battle zone," Shen Shuibi explained to the two.

"This… that would be very difficult. I don't know what The Axis of All Realms is, but since it dares to bear that name, its power is imaginable. What if we fail?" Gou Lou asked.

"If we fail, it depends on the degree of failure," Shen Shuibi conjured a small star map in her palm and said, "If it's a complete failure, achieving absolutely nothing, then the price will likely be our lives. Nothing else will happen, and we will die in vain."

Then, she moved the small star map slightly, and Gou Lou and Cha Xike finally saw that it was a rough distribution of Shaman Dao's forces.

After moving the star map, she added: "However, if we can attract enough high-end combat power to return and defend The Axis of All Realms, even if we fail, Shaman Dao can seize the opportunity to force Human Dao into a large-scale army decisive battle, nullifying their mobility and engaging them in a meat grinder, competing to see who can die more, and who can die a lot without collapsing."

Once a large-scale army standoff formed, all decisions of both sides would be forced into a 'drip-feeding' tactic.

At that point, tactics and even strategy would become irrelevant; it would simply be about who could afford to die.

Shaman Dao, with dozens of times more troops, was clearly the side with a thicker health bar and more chips. Exchanging lives, Shaman Dao had more lives and could afford the exchange.

"So, as long as we attack The Axis of All Realms and force people back, it's equivalent to winning?" Cha Xike asked, his breathing quickening.

Shen Shuibi, however, shook her head: "Aim for the best, achieve the middle; aim for the middle, achieve the worst; aim for the worst, achieve nothing. Our goal, from beginning to end, is only one: to completely destroy The Axis of All Realms's base stations in this battle zone."

"Other things are not considered." When she said this, Shen Shuibi's calm tone finally carried a hint of decisiveness.

Hearing this, Cha Xike and Gou Lou exchanged glances, then began to whisper to each other.

Shen Shuibi did not try to eavesdrop; she simply waited quietly.

After a while, Cha Xike walked over: "Then… People of No Return, at your disposal."

But Shen Shuibi shook her head: "You've misunderstood something. We are never superiors and subordinates. We stand here now not because of profit or orders, but simply because we share the same goal."

Gou Lou stepped forward at this moment, touching Cha Xike's body, and said, "Do you understand? This is the Great Dao Orthodoxy."

Cha Xike understood his friend's meaning.

The Great Dao Orthodoxy did not care about profit, nor about orders. They had no desire for power.

What they sought was simply their own Dao.

If your Dao aligned with theirs, then you were a fellow traveler, and could walk alongside them, calling each other 'fellow Daoist'.

If your goals clashed, then you were a counter-traveler, and then you either left, or engaged in a Daoist dispute.

His previous thoughts about Shaman Dao's various malicious methods… were all overthinking. He didn't need to worry about those; all he needed to do was 'walk alongside the other party'.

Because both sides' goals were consistent: to defeat Human Dao, even if the reasons for defeating Human Dao were not the same.

So, Cha Xike took a deep breath, extended his hand, and said to Shen Shuibi: "Then… Cha Xike is willing to contribute, all my strength."

Shen Shuibi, however, waved her hand, choosing not to grasp it, and instead said: "It's quite normal, no need to mind. So, you don't have a Formation diagram for group use yet, do you? Gather everyone for a drill, and I will design a set of Formation diagrams exclusively for the People of No Return."

"Madam also knows how to set up Formations?" Gou Lou asked in surprise.

"I know a little bit," Shen Shuibi waved her hand: "First, tell me about the situation with the Formations here. In large-scale army battles, a disorganized mob without Formations is just asking for death, but from what I see now, you seem like a scattered mess, with no usable Formations."

Gou Lou nodded: "That's natural. After all, our cultivation methods are too numerous and too varied, our racial Dao Orthodoxy differ, and some even conflict with each other. In such circumstances, it's truly difficult to organize large-scale Formations."

"No matter, give me some time, I will design it for you," Shen Shuibi said.

Having settled these matters, Shen Shuibi continued to explain to Gou Lou and Cha Xike the specific steps to take, understanding the essence of these things.

The rabbit and Li Qi were actually very similar in this regard; both were bookworms. When they spent time together, often they would each read their own books.

When they were together, there would often be times when they were reading, and then suddenly they would look up, smile at each other, and then continue reading their own books.

Both were very satisfied with this way of getting along. After all, deep affection was not built on earth-shattering events; those plots where one abandons the entire world for a single person are rare and also not lasting. It still relies on the little things accumulated in daily interactions to be maintained.

Life was not dramatic; it was ordinary.

The fact that Li Qi and Shen Shuibi could be so inseparable until now, having similar hobbies and synchronized life rhythms, was very important. Of course, the most crucial point was that there was no conflict in their Dao.

However, there were still differences.

For example, when doing things, multitasking was Li Qi's greatest strength and also his weakness. Compared to Shen Shuibi, the rabbit would be very focused and dedicated when doing things. Whether it was Alchemy, reading, or fighting, she could easily immerse herself and retreat into her own world.

Li Qi, however, was different. Even when fighting someone, he liked to think about whether his machine gun position should move five centimeters forward while fighting. His mind wasn't focused, and as a result, he would be overturned in a short while. This was also one of the manifestations of his poor combat talent.

However, this trait was very useful when formulating plans and outlining the big picture. He could always grasp every detail and strive for perfection with his powerful computing ability.

However, at this moment, Shen Shuibi began to learn from Li Qi.

She was no longer reclusive; instead, she forced herself to actively communicate with these People of No Return.

She also began to multitask, analyzing the challenges she was about to face.

Having been with Li Qi for five hundred years, she was no longer the reclusive, self-isolated social phobe she once was. Today's Shen Shuibi was a generous mother, capable of calmly facing external challenges.

From an external brain, she had transformed into a reliable woman who could stand on her own…

Thinking about it, Li Qi had quite a significant impact on her transformation.

Had she… changed Li Qi at all?

For a moment, this thought flashed through the rabbit's mind, but she quickly pushed it to the back of her head.

Let's do the main business first.

——————

The battle continued to unfold.

Every day, over ten thousand worlds were lost across the worlds.

At this very moment, a middle-level commander of Human Dao.

Though called middle-level, he was actually a Human Dao Lieutenant General, a Sixth-Grade Cultivator, commanding an army of at least Eighth-Grade Cultivators. This type of army was the backbone of Human Dao.

Fifth-Grade generals were, after all, a minority; compared to the tens of thousands of Sixth-Grade Cultivators, they were still too few.

On the battlefield, corpses lay everywhere, the entire world was shattered, the seas were ravaged, the continents cracked, the heart of the world was exposed, and molten lava continuously erupted. The entire world's weather had been completely disrupted.

They had just won a battle; this Shaman Dao world had been mostly destroyed, its world heart shattered.

Such scenes appeared every moment in this war and were no longer rare. Even at this very moment, countless worlds were in such a state.

It was just that some of those surrounded were Human Dao, and some were Shaman Dao.

However, the Human Dao Lieutenant General was not concerned with these matters now. This middle-level commander was on the battlefield, reading out the surrender terms.

And at this moment, on the battlefield below, the last remaining stubborn remnants of the army were forming a Formation.

Human Dao surrounded them, and the middle-level commander floated in the sky, loudly reciting:

"These foolish barbarians, wantonly displaying their rebellion, cunning in myriad ways, ignorant of all limits!"

"But how can they withstand the descending heavenly army, with its resplendent armor and weapons, its grand banners, its clamorous gongs and drums, leveling dangerous obstacles, causing tigers and leopards to flee and hide!"

"Alas, you barbarians, with your tiny lands, your swarms of ants, your party of foxes and badgers, hiding in your redundant nests, who made you so arrogant and ignorant!? The Emperor's decree states that you, these contemptible, savage brutes, dare to act so ferociously and stubbornly, bringing upon yourselves heavenly punishment to curb your violence, and thus it should be!"

"Yet, with one sweep of the heavenly halberd, all barbarians lose their courage! The Emperor warns his generals and ministers, commanding us to be divinely mighty and not to slaughter, to eliminate only their leaders! Lay down your arms and surrender, and the common people may live! Why do you not quickly kneel and accept surrender!"

The middle-level commander shouted sternly!

This was uncommon; generally speaking, Human Dao would not accept surrender; they would only annihilate completely.

To accept surrender and call them 'barbarians' indicated that Human Dao had recognized these enemies before them. Their tenacious and resolute fighting had even invigorated Human Dao, making them willing to offer the additional incentive of surrender.

However, as stated before.

Those Human Dao looked down upon generally desperately wanted to join.

Those Human Dao looked up to, however, would scorn Human Dao.

Then, the leader of the remaining defeated soldiers below raised his only remaining hand.

The Human Dao's voice, reading the surrender terms, stopped, awaiting their response. As long as they were willing to join Human Dao, these people would soon know what a truly perfect society was, a society that would never let down its heroes.

However, the leader turned to look at his scarred soldiers and said faintly, "Fellow Daoists, there is only death."

"Roar!" The soldiers roared in unison.

The Human Dao Lieutenant General shook his head.

If that's the case, then die.

However—

At this very moment, a surprise force suddenly burst in from outside the sky!

This startled the Human Dao Lieutenant General.

Something's wrong! The Axis of All Realms's intelligence said there were no Shaman Dao forces nearby!

He looked up again, only to see two characters written on the banner of that surprise force.

"No Return".