Chapter 45: The Character for Battle (Part 2)

"Whoosh!"

Like a violent storm, it instantly swept three thousand soldiers off their feet.

"Heh heh heh, exhilarating! For you ants to witness my mastery of geomancy—consider it your fortune!" Ding Wugu's face twisted with sinister delight.

Bullying these mortals seemed to grant Ding Wugu a twisted satisfaction, as if the years of scorn for his dwarf stature had warped his mind into perverse pleasure.

"Form up the battle formation! Fight again!" several young commanders shouted.

"Roar!" The soldiers responded in unison, lifting their spears once more to rejoin the fray.

Ding Wugu reveled alone in his sense of supremacy.

Elsewhere, Mr. Wenruo's brush continued its dance.

Stroke by stroke, he wrote atop the character for 'Disperse,' while red and gray smoke coiled and clashed around it, thunderous rumbles emanating from the swirling vapors as if locked in battle.

"Is Mr. Wenruo writing the character for 'Gather'?" Young Master Yang frowned.

"'Disperse' and 'Gather' are opposites—layered and opposed, clashing and struggling," Saintess Yuxi observed intently.

"The character for 'Fight'—the victor suppresses the vanquished until the loser is utterly erased," Yuxi added.

The 'Gather' character was not yet complete.

A crackling sound began to emanate.

The giant stone upon which the writing was inscribed could not withstand the conflict between the two characters and began to fracture.

Gathering, stroke by stroke, the red smoke's momentum grew ever stronger.

The stone was engulfed in red and gray smoke, all those present shrouded within, save for Ding Wugu, who remained outside, gleefully dueling the silver-armored soldiers.

With the final stroke, Mr. Wenruo's expression grew solemn. His brush swept out the last line of the 'Gather' character.

Boom!

The red smoke surged once more. Within its depths, the characters for 'Disperse' and 'Gather' overlapped, fading in and out of view—now red, now gray. Waves of righteous energy poured forth.

Cracks spread across the stone bearing the two characters.

Mr. Wenruo, gripping his brush, stared intently, expectation shining in his eyes.

Not only Mr. Wenruo—all those encased in the smoke fixed their gaze upon the characters.

Disperse? Gather? Fight? Which would prevail? Which would suppress the other?

Outside—

Black mist swirled around Ding Wugu. With a wave of his hand, fierce winds swept forth, overwhelming the soldiers, though arrows continued to pester him.

"Hmph, a pack of ants! Today I'll show you true immortal arts!" Ding Wugu said coldly.

He pointed toward the foremost young commanders. Instantly, five streaks of black mist shot toward them.

Thud! Thud! Thud...

The five young commanders' faces darkened, turning pitch-black in an instant. Their bodies went limp, as if afflicted by deadly poison.

"Hahaha! Challenge me? Courting death! Behold my grand geomantic array—die!"

Ding Wugu cackled, sweeping his hand again. Nearly a hundred streaks of black mist lashed out at the silver-armored troops.

The black mist was potent; any touched fell at once. This hundredfold attack was fiercer than before, bearing down on the hundred foremost silver-armored soldiers.

"Die!" Ding Wugu sneered.

Just then, from the mist-shrouded woods nearby, an angry snort rang out.

"Hmph! Who dares kill my men?"

Yan Chuan's shout thundered forth.

Boom!

A cyclone erupted from the woods, and boundless white mist surged out, instantly engulfing the entire camp.

The encampment was blanketed in white fog; the hundred streaks of black mist unleashed by Ding Wugu were swept away in an instant.

Where the white mist passed, not even a hand was visible before one's eyes. It swiftly dissipated the black mist surrounding Ding Wugu.