In the little dimension.
After being away for several days, everything here was still the same old place.
The two were seated at the stone table of the Yin-Yang dojo, where Ying Bing and Li Mo were discussing the Thousand Forms Secret Art.
“Don’t you draw the Guan Shen diagrams? Why don’t you get your shapes sorted out first?”
“I’ll give it a try,” Li Mo nodded, pulling out paper and brush. As he listened to Ice Chunk grinding the ink with her delicate hands, his mind gradually calmed down.
Suddenly, he was flooded with memories of the past, realizing he had gained quite a bit, but hadn’t yet managed to make those gains fully his.
With a stroke of the brush, the impressive scenes from their experiences leaped onto the paper.
There was Feng Zhi in her floral cotton jacket; Old Li secretly lurking in the shadows, watching him leave; his own self cultivating in the fields and swinging a forging hammer in the smithy; and little Niu swinging a wooden stick like a little warrior…
So much so that his paper was running out!
Eventually, he simply started drawing on the ground, rocks, and even in the mud of the Yin-Yang dojo.
At one point, he got so absorbed he didn’t even draw anymore. As the dimension’s master, he let his imagination run wild in the white clouds and blue skies instead.
He didn’t know how much time had passed until he blinked in confusion, finding breathtaking scenes sprawling out around him.
“Ice Chunk, do I need to condense all this into one form with the Thousand Forms Secret Art?”
“……”
Ying Bing was taken aback, finally returning to her senses, and for the first time, her tone carried some hesitation:
“I’ve never seen anyone with so many forms… but go ahead and give it a try.”
“Is this even feasible…?” Li Mo felt a tingle at the back of his head.
This was the first time he had seen Ice Chunk show such uncertainty in her training.
It was like a hundred-year-old doctor frowning over ancient scriptures. Who wouldn’t feel tense!
But it could also mean… he was treading a path unknown to anyone else; even Ice Chunk didn’t know where it would lead.
Li Mo recalled a saying.
There is no path on the road; it’s just that there are too many people walking it…
If Ice Chunk wanted him to try, at least it meant it wasn’t a dead end.
What could go wrong? Let’s just give it a go!
But who knows what kind of bizarre wonders would unfold from this journey?
Thus, in the following days, Little Li managed the affairs of Ink City while also using the Thousand Forms Secret Art to refine his inner vision.
To be honest, as a traveler from another world, changing this realm with his superior knowledge was quite a stretch.
Anyway, this half-baked effort didn’t get him far—just a bunch of ideas gathering dust.
Ideas and execution are two different stories.
Including, but not limited to, making gunpowder-related stuff; he had learned about it in school, but sadly, he had already returned that knowledge to his teacher and could only vaguely remember a formula or two.
Fortunately, Ink City had transformed vastly, stacked with decades of accumulated resources, and with the Celestial Race lending a helping hand.
Many flying thoughts were drafted by Little Li the genius.
In a very short time, Ink City’s influence expanded at an astonishing pace once again.
This led to a curious sight in Little Li’s little dimension—there weren’t less scenes; instead, there were even more!
The City of Divine Beings was thriving.
However, the expedition led by Jiang Yu to the Otherworld was not going smoothly.
In the beginning, the war situation was relatively stable, but as the natural disasters closed in, the land outside the City of Divine Beings became increasingly harsher.
Transporting food and military supplies was becoming more difficult.
The battlefront between the City of Divine Beings and the Otherworld was about to flip, returning to the original trajectory.
Even more critically, most of the allied forces formed by the warriors from the Underground City preferred to look out for themselves, only engaging when they had the upper hand.
Once the situation took a sharp downturn, they began to act coyly, conserving their strength.
Another summer rolled in.
In the Wind-Picking Tower.
“Brother Little Li, you’re not really waiting for your grandpa to come back before throwing a party, are you?”
Dong Ge Yu was reading the front lines’ battle reports.
He jokingly tried to dispel Dong Chang Tian’s worries.
“If the Otherworld isn’t conquered, what home do we have?” Li Mo cleared his throat.
His parents hadn’t agreed to this yet.
Setting up a family while facing the trial of the gods? Looking at those bigshots with their grand ambitions… are they even human?
“That’s secondary, right? The main concern can’t be that; you’re worried it’s too rushed, aren’t you?”
Dong Ge Yu asked with a cheeky grin.
“Alright, enough joking around. Let’s get back to business,” Li Mo waved his hand, steering the topic back on track.
“How’s the situation on the frontlines now?”
“I think our Emperor Jiang should have given up on advancing by now,” Qi Tie Zhu said, glancing at the map, then the battle reports from last month.
With the worsening environment and the odds stacked against them, the enemy was thriving while they struggled.
At present, the allied forces of the two cities were barely holding on, stuck in a defensive position.
It was simply unavoidable. If they didn’t concentrate their soldiers, they could be picked off one by one, suffering heavy losses.
Even in the early stages of war, the Celestial Race, which used to be intimidating, had begun to band together, suffering losses from some strong Celestials acting independently and facing defeat.
The bl**d God had not appeared.
But his underlings suddenly boasted a large contingent of powerful fighters.
Interestingly enough, the side of the Otherworld was more relaxed.
Because of the difficulties in transporting supplies, they could afford to wear their opponents down, while the City of Divine Beings couldn’t.
“So, Jiang Yu currently only has two choices laid out before him,” Li Mo tapped his finger on the table, assessing the situation of the allied forces.
“First, he can end this expedition with a bang, making a lot of noise but achieving nothing—that would be a total mess.”
“And if he loses control… that would be disastrous…”
As he spoke, a gust of wind suddenly swept past outside the hall, and the next second, a figure appeared.
It was Feng Zhi.
She looked bedraggled and exhausted, not at all the ethereal being one would expect to control the winds.
“You finally made it! What’s the latest scoop?”
Dong Ge Yu stopped joking and asked with serious respect.
“Take your time,” Li Mo poured her a cup of water.
“Jiang Yu plans to fight deep and alone, forcing the Otherworld side to gamble on life and d*ath with him.”
After Feng Zhi’s solemn statement, the group exchanged glances, their spirits sinking.
This wasn’t just attempting the impossible; this was outright reckless gambling!
The stakes were monumental.
The elite warriors of the Underground City, the limited number of strong Celestials, and the stability of the City of Divine Beings…
Despite the internal turmoil, if they failed, what would the City of Divine Beings use to deal with the next round of disasters?
“He still has the Divine Sword in his hand; it’s not like he’s without a chance…”
“But if he loses, he’ll lose the Divine Sword in the Otherworld.”
“What is Jiang Yu thinking?”
“Old Dong isn’t back yet; isn’t he the smartest one? Why isn’t he escaping?”
No one could understand it.
Jiang Yu’s thoughts were impossible for the others to fathom.
Yet, a thought popped into Li Mo’s mind:
“Could it be that he remembers the past now?”
That would explain Jiang Yu’s actions.
Everything he was doing wasn’t just for the City of Divine Beings, but for the sake of passing his trials, so he refused to retreat.
If he pulled back, the odds of preserving the City of Divine Beings might be increased, but his evaluation in the trials would plummet.
After chatting for a while, Li Mo stood up:
“Now that Jiang Yu has taken the initiative, the chances of success are probably… not even one in ten.”
“The City of Divine Beings would fall into chaos, and all our hard work might go to waste; it’s time to plan ahead.”
“What do you plan to do?”
