Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 1348 - 1348 768 War of Attrition_2

Chapter 1348: Chapter 768: War of Attrition_2 Chapter 1348: Chapter 768: War of Attrition_2 Zhao Deyi spent more time cultivating in the Inner Underground Palace, the more strength he gained. Although Qi Tian could also cultivate in the Outer Palaces using spirit stones, this common method of cultivation wouldn’t grant him any substantial enhancement in combat power. His overall ability had already been somewhat inferior to Zhao Deyi’s. If he were to wait until Zhao Deyi ended his cultivation of his own accord, the gap between them would become even greater, making it increasingly difficult for him to deal with Zhao Deyi.

Qi Tian gritted his teeth. At this point, he had no choice but to take the initiative, to find a way to create a battle environment favorable to himself and seize the initiative in combat, rather than dryly waiting here. If he waited, the already unfavorable battlefield situation would turn even more to his disadvantage.

Black holes opened in the palms of Qi Tian’s hands, and one Transporting Whirlwind after another flew out. They carried huge stones through the tomb gates of the Inner Underground Palace and toward the inside of the palace.

The individual who had crawled out of the coffin changed in complexion dramatically, realizing that Qi Tian had removed all the stones from his Saint’s Tomb, treasures he had worked hard to obtain. He thought Qi Tian would cherish these precious stones and not use them carelessly. He had never anticipated Qi Tian would use these valuable stones as the most primitive weapon, hurling them out. This was utterly unexpected to him.

Of course, what made his complexion change so drastically wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of this, but rather that he hadn’t anticipated Qi Tian would come up with such a method to deal with them. Even if he wanted to smash these stones himself, it would be no easy feat, requiring a great deal of effort and, most importantly, a lot of time. In their battle against Qi Tian, what they lacked most was time — whoever could gain the initiative in this aspect might achieve the final victory.

The individual who had emerged from the coffin immediately sent a message to Zhao Deyi, urging him to stop refining the magical artifacts he had just acquired and to promptly use the Banana Fan to blow all the stones out. They couldn’t allow those stones to enter the Inner Underground Palace and hit them.

Zhao Deyi was extremely frustrated. He had just acquired so many magical artifacts and was pondering how to refine them when Qi Tian kept coming up with these tricks, over and over again. Instead of thinking about using dense fog to seal their Divine Sense, he resorted to such a lowly strategy as throwing stones. It was a complete disgrace to cultivators.

However, Zhao Deyi had to admit that the tactics Qi Tian used were precisely the best way to deal with them. No matter how reluctant he was, he had no choice but to pick up the Banana Fan and start waving it, creating even more violent winds.

The Transporting Whirlwind was powerful, but compared to the force generated by the Banana Fan, capable of shaking a Nascent Soul Master, it still fell short. As the violent winds approached, the Transporting Whirlwinds carrying the stones had no way to pose any threat to Zhao Deyi and his companions. They were helplessly blown back through the tomb gates of the Inner Underground Palace and returned to the Outer Palaces.

The outcome initially disappointed Qi Tian, but his eyes quickly brightened. If Zhao Deyi resorted to using the Banana Fan to create a gale that prevented stones from entering the Inner Underground Palace, that indicated the tactic Qi Tian was employing posed a threat to Zhao and his team. Only then would Zhao attempt to prevent this scenario, and at this stage, the only way for Zhao to achieve this goal was to use the Banana Fan, which consumed Zhao’s magical power. Zhao had only recently ascended to the Nascent Soul Stage, and his magical power was limited. He had just had an intense battle with Qi Tian, followed by a chase, continually depleting his magical power without any substantial replenishment in between.

Upon reaching this Saint’s Tomb, the creature that emerged from the coffin might offer Zhao Deyi some pills to restore his magical power, but Zhao might not dare to use them. After all, Zhao needed to be wary of whether the former had harmful intentions toward him. If he carelessly consumed the pills provided by the other party, he might not even know how he died.

In that case, at this stage, Zhao Deyi’s own magical power was not abundant. If he continued to use the Banana Fan without pause, his magical power would quickly be exhausted. If that happened, he would be in the same predicament as the one who emerged from the coffin, sufficiently advanced in cultivation but hamstrung by the lack of magical power. Just like now, although the latter was stronger, he dared not make a move, commanding Zhao to carry out these tasks. He needed to save his scant magical power for the most critical moment.

This was an opportunity, and Qi Tian grew excited. Both Zhao Deyi and the creature from the coffin needed to be concerned about their depletion of magical power and the lack of means to replenish it, but Qi Tian did not have this worry. Qi Tian had a wealth of cultivation resources, including pills and spirit stones for restoring magical power. Though they were not endless, the quantity was considerable. Merely for cultivation or restoring magical power, he had enough resources for hundreds of years of consumption. In a war of attrition with Zhao and his team, he did not have any need for concern.

Qi Tian began to command the Transporting Whirlwinds to take turns on the battlefield. They whirled the stones repeatedly, attempting to throw them into the Inner Underground Palace. When the intrinsic power within the Transporting Whirlwinds was almost depleted, Qi Tian would allow them to rest, returning to the Heavenly Dao Engine for a brief recuperation. However, this did not mean Qi Tian’s harassment of Zhao and his team would cease. At that time, Qi Tian would send the Lustrous Sands into action, either by dispatching those Nascent Soul Stage yellow sand granules or by releasing dense fog, attempting to enter the Inner Underground Palace. Zhao could only wield the Banana Fan again, driving them away.

The standoff quickly became untenable for Zhao Deyi, just as Qi Tian had anticipated. His magical power was already failing to keep up. Although he was the Child Of Heavenly Selection, able to become a Nascent Soul Master, with heaven and earth aiding him against Tribulation Thunder and granting him several magical artifacts, the assistance from heaven and earth was ultimately limited and did not extend to providing him any pills for restoring magical power. If Zhao wanted to recover his magical power, he had to rely on his reserves. As the second son of Emperor Longqing, he was not lacking for pills or spirit stones for recovery, and they were quite abundant, but this was relative to his past self, back when he was in the Half-step Nascent Soul Realm, and his resources were matched to his level.

Back in the Half-step Nascent Soul Realm, consuming a pill would significantly restore his magical power, but now that he was in the Nascent Soul Stage, what used to provide a large recovery might now yield less than a tenth of his previous capacity. A similar situation occurred with spirit stones, resulting in the formerly abundant pills and spirit stones being nearly exhausted before long if consumption continued unchecked.

With little left, Zhao Deyi dared not use them. His battle with Qi Tian had not yet reached its most intense phase. If he used up all his pills and spirit stones now, how would he manage when the real confrontation with Qi Tian occurred? With his magical power depleted, how could he replenish or recover?

Zhao Deyi was left with no choice but to seek help from the one who had crawled out of the coffin. But just as Qi Tian had predicted, Zhao didn’t even touch the pills offered by the latter. He hoped the other would take action instead of continuing to watch from the sidelines, as was the case now.