Chapter 211: Can’t Beat You, But Can’t I Beat Your Storage Ring?

“You should try to tap into the full potential of your spells and develop more uses for them. Illusions aren’t just for attacking others; you can use them on yourself too.” Jiang Li wanted to teach some combat techniques, so he used the Holy Maiden Jingxin as an example.

“For instance, you — you’re beautiful, recognized as a top beauty across the Nine Provinces. When cultivators fight you, they see your face, feel pity and reluctance, and can’t even bring out seventy percent of their strength.”

“But a battle is a battle. You can’t let things like gender or appearance affect you. When we fight, we have to discard all external factors and make the battle pure.”

“If I were in that cultivator’s shoes, I’d cast an illusion on myself, imagining you as an ugly hag. That way I could fight without any guilt, and might even perform beyond my usual limits.” Jiang Li felt this was a very fitting example.

Holy Maiden Jingxin listened, gritting her teeth.

Who gives examples like that?!

“Scattering Beans into Soldiers, Heaven and Earth Dharma Form, and One Qi Splitting into Three Pure Ones can all be used together.”

“First, use the beans to summon a group of soldiers, then have the soldiers cast Heaven and Earth Dharma Form. If you think the number of soldiers isn’t enough, have them use One Qi Splitting into Three Pure Ones.”

“In other words, you toss out one bean and get three soldiers, all capable of Heaven and Earth Dharma Form.”

“But considering the massive spiritual energy consumption and the difficulty of mastering One Qi Splitting into Three Pure Ones, this is just for reference.”

“Also, when you have free time, study Corpse-Driving Techniques. Very useful. When your Yang Spirit leaves your body and your soul battles independently, your body becomes immobile like a corpse. At that point, you can treat your body like a corpse, fight with your Yang Spirit, and control your body to fight using Corpse-Driving Techniques. Your combat strength doubles.”

“When fighting, keep your mind agile. Don’t get stuck in rigid combat patterns.”

“For example, if your opponent is too strong and you can’t beat them, why insist on winning? You can smash their storage ring and escape while they’re stunned.” Jiang Li spoke about this very confidently, because he had actually done it before when he was weak — a dirty trick he used to survive.

Can’t beat you, but can’t I beat your storage ring?

Buddhism was proficient in the Dao of Space and was the main producer of storage rings in the Nine Provinces.

People kept complaining to the Buddhist sects, saying their storage rings couldn’t be used to defend against attacks, and demanded better protection.

The Bodhisattvas and Arhats of the Buddhist sects almost cursed out loud, thinking, “If a storage ring could defend against enemies, would it still be called a storage ring?”

At the time, to appease the demands, the Buddhist sects developed a new type of storage item: the Storage Shield.

Later, when Jiang Li became powerful, he stopped using that trick, and the Storage Shield gradually went out of production.

“Also, about your Immortal Peach Tree — even though it can’t leave the Pure Land of the Mortal World, you can still pick the peaches and use them to fight outside the Pure Land.”

“When you meet an enemy, just feed them a peach.”

“But what if the opponent’s a man? The Immortal Peach probably can’t make a man pregnant, right?”

“So what? The enemy won’t dare to bet on it anyway.”

Holy Maiden Jingxin thought, The enemy won’t dare to bet, but neither would we! What if he really does get pregnant? Who’s responsible then?

“Of course, if the enemy is way too powerful and you really can’t win, there’s still one last method.”

“What is it?”

“Call me for help.”

“…That’s easy to say, but somehow it feels wrong.”

Then Holy Maiden Jingxin realized it. With her current status and cultivation level, how could she possibly end up in a life-or-death fight in the Nine Provinces?

All battles nowadays were just sparring.

If everyone was sparring, and she suddenly called over a Mahayana-stage cultivator, what the heck would that be?

Would there even be a fight left?

When Jiang Li was preparing to leave the Pure Land of the Mortal World, Sect Leader Qingyu showed a sorrowful expression and said in a heavy tone, “My condolences.”

Jiang Li was full of question marks.

“Wait, what do you mean, condolences?” Jiang Li grabbed Sect Leader Qingyu.

“You don’t have to pretend to be strong. Everyone’s heartbroken over Commander Mu’s passing.” Sect Leader Qingyu might have had conflicts with Jiang Li, but she still admired the commanders of the Human Sovereign Hall.

“I just got a message from Commander Liu — Commander Mu had an accident and passed away,” she said, showing him the Remote Communication Talisman.

“…S***, did Commander Liu take it seriously?!” Jiang Li hurriedly took out his own Remote Communication Talisman and called Commander Liu.

Commander Liu, dressed in mourning robes, said, “Hall Master, when will the funeral banquet be?”

“Commander Mu isn’t dead, I was joking,” Jiang Li explained immediately upon contact.

“Everyone is sad about Commander Mu’s death, but avoiding it won’t help. As guardians of the Nine Provinces, we of the Human Sovereign Hall must learn to move forward.”

“Commander Mu really isn’t dead,” Jiang Li emphasized again.

“Really?” Commander Liu still didn’t believe it.

“Really. I swear on my cultivation, Commander Mu is alive.”

“So I chose all these candidate commanders for nothing?” Commander Liu looked disappointed and showed Jiang Li the candidates he had selected over the past few days.

“Hall Master, take a look, see if any catch your eye.”

It was a record of conversations between Commander Liu and several Fusion-Stage cultivators, focusing on questions like: How’s your brain? Are you obsessed with love affairs? Do you like to mingle with low-level cultivators? Are you pessimistic?

All very targeted questions.

Anyone whose mind was still sharp, who treated romantic affairs lightly, avoided showing off in public, and had an optimistic outlook was shortlisted by Commander Liu.

Jiang Li felt that the so-called mourning was fake, and selecting a new commander was the real agenda.

Thinking about it, it made sense — Commander Liu was as sly as a fox. Of course he could tell Jiang Li had been joking earlier.

“It’s not that we can’t consider new commanders,” Jiang Li nodded slightly. From the brief introductions, these Fusion-Stage cultivators all seemed decent.

But of course, appearances weren’t enough; a thorough investigation was needed to be sure.

After all, according to Commander Liu’s recollection, when they selected commanders like Zhang Konghu back then, every candidate had acted upright, but after taking office, all kinds of bad habits surfaced — faster than weeds growing.

“Huh? Why is Holy Maiden Jingxin on the list?” Jiang Li noticed she was among the candidates, and she had even answered Commander Liu’s set of questions.

“Holy Maiden Jingxin is selfless and willing to dedicate herself to the Human Sovereign Hall. Naturally, she can become a commander,” Commander Liu said with a straight face, with a hint of suggestion in his tone.

“Not her. Let me see how the others are,” Jiang Li rejected Holy Maiden Jingxin immediately and decided to personally pick someone.

At the very least, he wanted someone steady and reliable.

“You didn’t tell the other factions about Commander Mu’s ‘death,’ did you?”

“No.”

“Good.”

After Jiang Li left, Commander Liu contacted Sect Leader Qingyu.

“Too bad, still couldn’t match them up,” Commander Liu sighed. His original plan was to bring Holy Maiden Jingxin into the Human Sovereign Hall and close the distance between her and the Hall Master, but it had failed right at the first step.

Selecting new commanders was genuine; trying to get Holy Maiden Jingxin into the Hall was also genuine.

“One’s too shy to confess, and the other’s brain doesn’t work like normal people’s. Who knows when these two will finally get together,” Sect Leader Qingyu also sighed. Among the female cultivators of the Nine Provinces, Holy Maiden Jingxin wasn’t the only one who liked Jiang Li.

As far as she knew, the Buddhist sect’s Joyous Bodhisattva also had feelings for him.

If her disciple never expressed her feelings, what if one day Jiang Li woke up to love and fell for someone else? Then this silly disciple wouldn’t even have a place to cry.

She truly hoped the two could establish their relationship sooner.