Starting My Cultivation With Time Management-Chapter 967 - 107: The Strategy to Ambush the Tai Yin Sword Master
Chapter 967 -107: The Strategy to Ambush the Tai Yin Sword Master
After hearing Yuanzhen Immortal’s explanation, though the cultivators doubted that the Tai Yin Sword Master would deliberately join the crowd to sow discord, the fact of launching an attack from the deep sea was highly probable.
Most Shushan Sword Immortals were brash, but not foolishly brash enough to openly challenge a hundred foes at once… Leveraging environmental advantages was the most basic tactical skill, after all.
Thus, amidst the storm, the group ascended to higher altitudes, maintaining a safe distance from the ocean surface to guard against any sneaky strikes from the Tai Yin Sword Master.
After a long while, the secret realm transmitted its location update once again, when suddenly someone spoke:
“Wait, the Tai Yin Sword Master is still far from us right now. Why are we being so cautious?”
That remark jolted everyone into a daze.
That’s right! The Tai Yin Sword Master isn’t even here. Why are we tiptoeing around in fear, acting as if walking on ice? Just who are we guarding against?
After exchanging bewildered glances, the crowd finally came to their senses.
It was nothing but Yuanzhen Immortal’s frightening words!
With the unparalleled speed of the Tai Yin Suming Sword, it could instantly teleport in front of you before you even had time to react, then strike with horrifying power that bypasses your defenses and kills instantly… Such an exaggerated description had unnerved everyone, causing them to subconsciously overreact.
“Why don’t we…” someone suggested, “wait for more cultivators to arrive? With just our numbers, is it really enough to deal with the Tai Yin Sword Master?”
“How could it possibly not be enough?” someone else impatiently retorted. “Even if the opponent were an Immortal, it’d still take them a good while to kill so many Nascent Soul cultivators, wouldn’t it?”
The statement was frankly a bit excessive, outright elevating the Tai Yin Sword Master to the rank of an Immortal. Naturally, several individuals showed resentment and were just about to voice their objections when they abruptly heard Yuanzhen Immortal say gloomily:
“We also thought so at first…”
The crowd: ………..
“Yuanzhen Immortal, it’s clear that your group was tricked in the first place,” one person interjected suddenly. “If my guess isn’t wrong, you initially tried to rely on superior numbers to surround the Tai Yin Sword Master, but he tactically retreated to the seabed. Then, you pursued him into the ocean depths, only for him to turn the terrain to his advantage and counterattack… Am I right?”
Yuanzhen Immortal looked closely and immediately recognized the speaker as “Luoyang Scholar”—a figure who initially followed the Human Cult path before switching to Daoist cultivation, making him a rare talent who practiced dual cultivation of Daoism and Confucianism.
Daoist cultivators, whether from the Three Pure Ones sects, the Six Paths, or other factions, often had the habit of isolating themselves in seclusion. Only upon hitting bottlenecks in the Golden Core Realm would they venture out for experience, so their worldly knowledge was generally quite deficient.
However, due to the Luoyang Scholar’s Dao-Confucian dual cultivation, his thinking was far more flexible than most cultivators. As a result, he became highly regarded in many cultivator circles—as the type of person skilled in strategy and tactics.
Yuanzhen Immortal nodded, confirming that his analysis was correct. Then someone else asked:
“Scholar, what do you think we should do next?”
“Firstly, the Tai Yin Sword Master is incapable of confronting so many of us directly,” Luoyang Scholar responded with a smile. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t bother running and hiding; he’d just kill us all outright.”
“Secondly, though he thought to plunge into the deep sea, dealing with that is rather straightforward—we only need to use Water System and Wood System Daoist magic to attack.”
The group collectively facepalmed. This suggestion was equivalent to saying nothing—Water System Daoist techniques were naturally unhindered by aquatic environments, and Wood System Daoism, through the principle of Five Elements Integration, received a boost in water-based settings. Hence, their effects wouldn’t diminish much, even when penetrating the deep sea’s layers.
However, the problem lay in this: where could they find enough cultivators proficient in Water and Wood System Daoist techniques?
“Are there any cultivators here skilled in Water or Wood System Daoist magic?” Luoyang Scholar persisted, “and failing magic, corresponding magical treasures or sword dao techniques would also suffice.”
Gradually, sixteen or seventeen cultivators stepped forward, making Luoyang Scholar even more confident. He promptly began to assign tasks:
“These fellow Daoists must form a separate group to focus on methods for forcing the target out from the ocean depths. The rest of us will follow me to prepare to attack with full force once the Tai Yin Sword Master emerges from the sea.”
“But what if we can’t force the Tai Yin Sword Master out?” someone questioned skeptically.
“How could that be?” Luoyang Scholar replied with calm confidence and a smile. “In the deep sea, there are natural currents surging below. For ordinary cultivators, maintaining their form and orientation within these waters is already extremely difficult, not to mention trying to evade attacks coming down from above.”
“If the target continues to dive downward, they’ll inevitably be swept into a dead zone by the chaotic currents. However, if they linger near the upper levels, the secret realm will keep updating the position, enabling us to launch attacks and drive them out—though that assumes none among us impulsively dives into the seabed recklessly, like the previous group.”
These comments made Yuanzhen Immortal’s eye twitch, thinking, “Who doesn’t know hindsight? If we had foreseen the Tai Yin Sword Master’s capabilities ahead of time, why would we have pursued him into the deep sea?”
Nonetheless… I refuse to believe that the Tai Yin Sword Master’s moves stop at this—just wait and see!
Though Yuanzhen Immortal grumbled inwardly, the other cultivators mulled it over, failing to find any flaws in the plan. Enthusiastically, they expressed agreement, their morale rising.
“There’s just one issue,” suddenly, two or three cultivators within the group skilled in Water and Wood System arts spoke up. “For this Seven Treasures Mysterious Garden Secret Realm, the challenge is this—whoever kills the Tai Yin Sword Master wins the spot.”
“In other words, there is only one available spot… If we’re responsible for forcing him out, only for you to land the kill, isn’t that inherently unfair to us?”
Luoyang Scholar’s expression remained unchanged as he continued smiling:
“Your concerns don’t surprise me one bit.”
“Let me ask you this: if the Tai Yin Sword Master remains underwater and dies to your Water and Wood attacks, would this be considered unfair to the rest of us?”
“Certainly not!” someone instantly replied without hesitation. “If you’ve methods to force him out yourselves, by all means, go ahead and try—why would you need to rely on us?”
“Exactly,” Luoyang Scholar beamed, “you may have fewer numbers, but you hold the advantage of striking first. If you manage to slay the Tai Yin Sword Master under the sea, the opportunity is yours.”
“If you fail to kill him and only manage to chase him out, that’s merely a lack of ability on your part—who could you blame? Once the Tai Yin Sword Master surfaces, everyone will compete fairly based on skill.”
This plan… is quite impressive! Amidst the crowd, upon hearing the Luoyang Scholar’s scheme, Kunlun Mirror pondered deeply.
As the cultivators began flying toward the Tai Yin Sword Master’s position, Kunlun Mirror utilized illusion magic to discreetly detach herself from the group and teleport to Ling Yunpo’s location directly.
At this time, Ling Yunpo was standing on the sandy beach of a tiny island, poking at crabs buried in the sand with a wooden stick.
The ocean currents had grown chaotic, causing most aquatic demonic beasts to perish, while land creatures were severely impacted by the storm, leaving scarcely any survivors. Only these crabs evaded disaster temporarily by burrowing into the sand.
Kunlun Mirror approached him and relayed the opposition’s entire plan, to which Ling Yunpo replied in surprise:
“Is that all?”
“How do you intend to deal with this?” Kunlun Mirror asked, somewhat worried.
“Isn’t it simple?” Ling Yunpo replied without hesitation. “I just won’t hide in the ocean depths, and that solves the problem!”
