Chapter 61: The Lesson Learned from Superpowered Combat: Do Not Limit Yourself to Superpowers

Liu Shuyue laid out her entire plan in detail.

First, she intended to transfer the Spicy Village hunting squad to Jiufeng City to bridge the gap in cultivator strength between the two sides.

The members of the hunting squad were villagers who had awakened their combat capabilities after bathing in dragon blood. They were now cultivators who had stepped across the threshold, practicing the authentic mind-clearing techniques of the Lotus Cloud Sect, and their strength was by no means inferior to ordinary rogue cultivators.

This group numbered around two hundred.

Moreover, Spicy Village and the store were connected through the VIP housing, so there was no need to fear the enemy employing a diversion tactic.

"Can they defeat those rogue cultivators?" Chen Xuan could not help but feel a little concerned. "Annihilating monsters is not the same as fighting one's own kind, is it?"

Those were the dishes he had his eyes on... No, his guests!

According to Liu Shuyue's previous explanation, rogue cultivators and evil cultivators were essentially the same thing. Both had attained Qi-perception abilities through sheer coincidence, practiced bizarre and erratic cultivation arts, and regularly defied laws and prohibitions. Normally, they were relentlessly suppressed by the joint efforts of the Lotus Cloud Sect disciples and the imperial government, forcing them to keep their heads down.

Yet, looking at it from another angle, if they could endure such harsh cultivation conditions, they must either possess extraordinary talent or astonishing resilience. Coupled with the fact that they were accustomed to risking their lives in every endeavor, their combat experience was probably far beyond what a group of honest and simple villagers could compare to.

Liu Shuyue's expression was no longer as relaxed as before. "Casualties are inevitable once blades cross; that cannot be avoided. Their time since entering the path is simply too short, and I haven't even had the chance to teach them how to properly contend with cultivators. Fortunately, the enemy is also a loose sand, and for now, they will likely focus on harassment and surprise attacks. The villagers will still have time to adapt."

Next was the recruitment of militia, primarily consisting of the Liu family's members. Thanks to past propaganda associating them with immortals, the Liu family wielded considerable influence locally, so gathering a team should not prove too difficult. Liu Shuyue did not expect these people to engage the regular army in open-field battles outside the city, but under the fortification of the formations, they could still hold off a portion of the enemy forces.

The final step rested with Liu Shuyue herself.

As the strongest combatant, she would need to rush to wherever the fire broke out, launching surprise attacks on enemy commanders and officers when the army mobilized, while also sniping high-level experts among the enemy rogue cultivators to alleviate the pressure on the hunting squad.

"If we can successfully repel their encirclement a few times and annihilate one or two regional armies, King Qi might finally understand that he cannot use the slaughter of Yunzhou's commoners to threaten me. If he loses any further, he will have to consider whether his throne remains secure," Liu Shuyue said slowly. "Of course, once I do this, I will be considered in open rebellion, and King Qi will likely no longer abide by his pact with the Lotus Cloud Sect."

A trace of worry flashed in her eyes at this, but it was quickly swallowed by an even fiercer conviction.

"May I ask what this pact specifically entails?" Chen Xuan asked out of curiosity.

"The nations recognize the Lotus Cloud Sect as the orthodox path of the Great Dao, and in return, the sect dispatches disciples to assist the state and succor the world. It is something along those lines," Liu Shuyue paused slightly. "However, I only heard this from my master and have never laid eyes on the actual document itself, seeing as it was a pact concluded over a thousand years ago."

"The Lotus Cloud Sect won't send people to punish you, will they?"

She shook her head. "My master once said that the mountain gates open only once every hundred years."

"Then it doesn't matter," Chen Xuan said dismissively. He even figured that perhaps monarchs had done this very thing before, at most being crushed by the iron fist of reality and perishing along with their states.

"Even if the sect sends someone to apprehend me, my conscience is clear," Liu Shuyue's resolve was clearly much higher. "Because from beginning to end, I have never violated my master's teachings."

Chen Xuan smiled. "Your purpose in coming to see me can't simply be to share the situation with me, can it?"

"Indeed. Not a single link in this plan has any margin for error. If King Qi is determined to continuously escalate his forces, we will inevitably fall into a disadvantageous position... or even a desperate plight," Liu Shuyue said with a solemn expression. "For instance, if the other side mobilizes the imperial guards and spends heavily to recruit rogue cultivators from other nations, Spicy Village alone will not be able to hold them off."

That would be a real war, Chen Xuan thought to himself. "You want me to help fill this gap."

"Yes. You are my greatest trump card. No matter how King Qi schemes, he can never account for your existence," Liu Shuyue nodded. "And I am willing to pay with an ability as compensation; you may choose any of them."

This was the first time she had ever spoken such words.

Yet Chen Xuan was in no rush to execute the ability transaction. If a massive battle were to erupt in Yunzhou, selecting her ability now would only weaken their own side's strength. Liu Shuyue's value lay not merely in her ability; the Spicy Village behind her was also a market that could not afford to be lost.

"No rush. We can trade after we win."

"Are you certain I can win?" Liu Shuyue asked in astonishment. In the worst-case scenario, they would be facing the entire mobilized might of a kingdom. Even with Chen Xuan's assistance, maintaining a stalemate would already be an ideal state of affairs. She never expected him to assert so casually that she would triumph.

"If you can't win, there's no charge," Chen Xuan looked utterly confident. "Go back to Spicy Village and rally your troops first. I'll notify you the moment I have news."

After Liu Shuyue departed, his gaze fixed steadily on Lin Qing, causing the latter to ask somewhat uneasily, "Uh... what do you want me to do?"

"When I was reviewing the declassified files of the Temporal Bureau, I noticed a section mentioning that you once collaborated with many arms dealers?"

"That is indeed the case," Lin Qing searched her memory banks. "In the early days, both the Bureau and those mega-corporations required weapons to arm their private forces. However, after cyberware technology advanced by leaps and bounds, the Bureau itself became the largest arms manufacturer, and those partnerships naturally came to an end."

As long as they existed, that was enough. Chen Xuan said, "Help me investigate them, check their business scopes, and see if any of them have established contact with the Temporal Bureau recently."

She tilted her head and studied him for a long moment. "Manager, you surely don't intend to buy weapons from them, do you?"

"Otherwise, what am I going to do, invite them out for afternoon tea?" Chen Xuan spread his hands. "You heard it just now: a single Liu family and the citizens of Jiufeng City are about to face tens of thousands of troops across various states, and a hunting squad of two hundred must confront vastly superior numbers of cultivators. If we want to reverse this disadvantage, the most viable method is to upgrade our weaponry."

If everyone possessed a firearm, would Yunzhou still remain chaotic?

"Very well, I will help you contact them," Lin Qing's eyes began to flicker, the manifestation of massive amounts of data being retrieved by her brain-computer interface. "Worldwide, there are six individuals whose profiles match the criteria... among whom four have not yet made contact with the Bureau."

"Can you dispatch a communication in the manner of the Temporal Bureau?"

"Falsify a requisition? That is not difficult," she nodded. "I can even route the official dispatch through the Bureau's external lines—that will significantly reduce the trust cost. One moment..."

Conducting transactions with individual sellers versus dealing with an organizational entity—which one was more likely to elicit a response went without saying.

"Okay, the dispatch has been sent."

"So fast?" Chen Xuan was surprised.

"Little Green handled it," Lin Qing wore a proud expression. "However, do you have that much money? It's easy to make them reply, but these people likely won't supply goods easily without seeing the money first."

After all, in terms of sheer quantity, they needed to arm at least an entire militia force.

"I won't pay with money," Chen Xuan already had a plan in mind. "Since the one negotiating business with them is the Bureau, naturally we can use things exclusive to the Bureau as payment."

"Tell them the compensation is an «Ability»."

...

...

"Knock, knock." Two raps echoed outside the study door. "Father, it's me, Gio."

Walter lowered the book in his hand and shook a finger at the several burly men in the room. The latter immediately hoisted a man whose face was covered in blood, gagged him, and dragged him into the adjacent room. Following that, someone returned to wipe the bloodstains off the floor with a rag and straightened the slightly disarrayed chairs. Only when everything was pristine and orderly once more did he raise his voice and say, "Come in."

The door pushed open, and his eldest son, Gio Weiss, strode into the room.

"Is something the matter?" Walter asked in his habitual raspy tone.

"I just received a business negotiation regarding light weapons, with no restriction on categories. I tested the waters by asking, and they accepted either M16s or AK47s," Gio said expressionlessly.

A trace of regret brushed through Walter's heart. Ever since the explosion two months ago that claimed the life of Gio's wife, his son had not smiled at him once.

Walter could vaguely sense that the other man did not care for this line of work, but as the eldest son, tradition dictated that he was destined to inherit the family business.

"You can negotiate such matters directly; there's no need to report to me," Walter replied leisurely. "The fact that they could find you directly means the other party was introduced by a friend. Just make sure you don't forget to collect the payment upfront."

The family operated an arms-trading enterprise, selling both their in-house products and other popular brands. They took on legal business just as readily as illegal ventures.

Unlike retail store fronts, the company's business consisted entirely of wholesale, offering large volumes alongside competitive prices.

Light weapons like firearms were merely trivial leftovers in their transactions, especially second-hand firearms measured by weight and sold by the pound. He generally never bothered inquiring about them, instead delegating these deals to his children to let them familiarize themselves with the company's operations beforehand.

"However, this particular client is somewhat unusual..." Gio hesitated, leaving his sentence unfinished.

"Oh?" Walter retracted the hand he had intended to wave in dismissal. "In what way?"

"The other party claims to be the Temporal Bureau... and the transaction compensation is an «Ability»."

Walter Weiss trembled all over and instantly straightened his posture in his seat.