Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy

  Ouyang Shang was a radical but cautious man.

  Due to his radicality, he did not hesitate to let his Junior Brothers and Sisters whose cultivation base was still quite low to face the flood dragon who had been cultivating for thousands of years. But because of his cautiousness, he would not really fight fiercely with it while its situation was still unclear.

  After killing the cannon fodder used to test them, they forced the flood dragon to make its move through a tough stance… That was the whole content of the first day of combat.

  After forcing the flood dragon to come out, there would naturally be Spirit Sword Sect's cultivators who were good at observing to carry out an all around observation to it immediately. The resulting collected data would gradually enrich the battle plan model of flood dragon. And when the completion of the model of flood dragon had reached at least seventy percent, they could truly fight a fierce battle with it.

  Before that, however, the task of the cultivators was to use every means possible to force the flood dragon to expose more and more details of itself. On the first day of combat, Ouyang Shang fully took advantage of the flood dragon's vigilance to compel it to come out by letting the more than thirty cultivators put out a tough fighting to the death stance before subsequently retreating. This meant that it would be difficult to lure the flood dragon to come out in the future.

  But that was exactly what he wanted. Because flood dragon didn't want to make its move, it could only send out its underlings. And if they could eliminate these 'wings' of it before the big battle, turning it into a lone fighter, at the time of the decisive battle, everyone's pressure would be reduced.

  Ouyang Shang's strategy had always been very complete.

  However, after the first day of battle, when they were summarizing the data about the flood dragon, Ouyang Shang gradually furrowed his brows.

  "In other words… according to your observation, the strength of this Blessed Fountain's flood dragon is probably stronger than what we previously anticipated?"

  Wang Lu sighed. "I'm afraid it's much stronger. If I'm not mistaken, this guy's inner core has already turned into a dragon ball. Moreover, it's more than one."

  According to legend, to turn into a True Dragon, the flood dragon must cultivate its monster inner core into dragon ball. After it had collected seven of them, it could turn into a True Dragon. Of course, this was a very difficult process. Everytime an inner core was refined into a dragon ball, it would cause a heavenly tribulation. At the same time, to build a new inner core after a successful dragon ball refinement was like starting from the beginning, and it would need to face all sorts of difficulties… However, every successful transformation of dragon ball meant that the flood dragon had made a big step toward becoming a True Dragon, and its magical ability greatly improved.

  "This time, it only used its basic magical ability, and its real cards are still hidden. Moreover, even if it doesn't use its cards, using the strength of its second level body alone, no one could block its attack. Our plans must be adjusted, in fact, we need a big adjustment. The best adjustment is to give up the Blessed Fountain and re route to Jade Forest."

  Ouyang Shang gritted his teeth. "That's not necessary. Second level flood dragon… According to the algorithms that you proved, it's not invincible. On the contrary, if we can win the battle, our harvest will be higher."

  Wang Lu said, "Indeed, it's only a second level flood dragon, not necessarily an impossible fight. But it's not easy to win against it. At present, the average cultivation base of the team should rise by at least two or three (minor) levels, at least close to a (major) level 1 . At least, there should no longer be any waste peak Foundation Establishment left."

  Ouyang Shang said, "Half a year is enough for those three to breakthrough Xudan Stage, while the others could rise two or three (minor) levels… It wouldn't be that difficult. However, the leveling plan must be changed."

  Wang Lu looked down at the thousands of previously completed formulas and then nodded.

  "If the latest observation is put into the variables… then the leveling time needs to be extended by two months. After eight months, the team's strength should be enough to overcome the second level flood dragon. The problem is that, during the leveling period, the risk would become difficult to control."

  Ouyang Shang said, "Yes, the formula results in the breakthrough of the save zone, and by a lot. In this way… Casualty-less leveling would not be realized, and I simply can't accept such casualties."

  With that, Ouyang Shang reached out to change several of the operators in the calculation talisman. And after several calculations, he pursed his lips and said, "According to our existing strength, even if we change tactics, it's still difficult to guarantee the safety of all people's lives when leveling."

  Wang Lu touched his chin thoughtfully. He always felt that this problem seemed to have a very convenient solution, but for the moment, he couldn't remember it.

  At this time, Ouyang Shang had just begun to calculate the environmental variables. "I just discovered that our current assessment of the environmental variables is not accurate enough. Since this millennium-old flood dragon has changed in the past few decades, now there were two dragon balls, then it's likely that there's a similar reaction to the nearby monsters. We need to spend more time cleaning up the campsite to ensure safety when we are leveling… Under this circumstance, the effect of total efficiency should be…"

  Upon hearing this, a flash of insight passed through Wang Lu's mind in an instant. "That being the case… You might as well leave this matter to me."

  With that, he reached out his hand toward one point of the computation talisman, and the result of the original red outcome was wiped out.

  "Forcibly erased?" Ouyang Shang curiously asked, "In other words, you, Junior Brother Wang Lu, have sufficient confidence to solve the problem of leveling?"

  "Yes, just leave it to me. During the process of leveling, once the strength of the opponent is too strong and thus difficult to resist, I will take action to protect everyone's safety… Of course, some preparation time is needed, so the leveling plan needs to be made more secure."

  Ouyang Shang said, "No problem, just let everyone save some strength and they will always be ready to launch the tortoise array. It will only slightly reduce the speed of leveling… Wait a minute, there's no harm in adjusting the leveling content to fully use the extended time… In short, we can consider this matter as solved for the time being. Let's talk about the next point."

  The biggest problem that puzzled the team was Wang Lu's several words of jump to the past, but Ouyang Shang was completely unalarmed by this and instead had given his full trust on Wang Lu.

  With that, the two began to work on the leveling plan, from a rough framework to a complete system.

  This work would be very hard for Wang Lu or Ouyang Shang alone. After all, the terrifying amount of calculation was too heavy for a cultivator who had just reached Jindan Stage. Perhaps only Supreme Tian Lun of Ten Thousand Arts Sect had the processing power to deal with it in an instant.

  However, when the two of them cooperated, they found that their work efficiency was greatly improved, more efficient than the sum of the two. It seemed that there was a wonderful tacit understanding between them. Whenever one of them encountered a difficulty, it was just in time for the other to be inspired and reveal the solution… They have both astonishing achievements in maths, and moreover, they complemented each other. After a whole night of calculating, a thick list of plan was completed.

  When the light of dawn extended from the horizon to the foot of the mountain, as if by prior agreement, the two of them smiled and then sighed.

  "Pity that you're not a girl, otherwise I'll feel carefree to be your companion."

  The two of them spoke in unison and couldn't help but gawk, but then deed regret the welled up feeling in their heart.

  After falling into silent for a while, Ouyang Shang asked, "So, I have recently been designing an immortal method that could change the sex of the body. At present, it has achieved initial success. Do you, Wang Lu, have any interest in trying it?"

  "… Why don't you try it yourself?"

  "Your physical strength is above me, so obviously in the field of body, you are more skilled than me, and thus more suitable to be a test subject," Ouyang Shang righteously said.

  "It's because of powerful strength that it's more difficult for me to change shape. And frankly speaking, I have a conflicting feeling in the sex change. I can occasionally don women's clothes for fun, but sex change is out of the question."

  Ouyang Shang said with great regret, "Don't you want to at least consider it? If you and I are companions, it would be a great advantage to you—at least your seniority will directly go up by a level. I am the Big Brother of my generation, if you follow me, your status is basically the same as me. When you go back to your time and give out my name, it's highly possible that you can even directly take the Sect Leader position—even if not, you can still become an Elder."

  Opposing word for word, Wang Lu said, "If I go back to my time and be seen as a girl, I'm afraid I can't even hold on to my lead disciple position. Moreover, I can't rely just by telling them that I was your companion—you can't go back to my time with me, how could they trust my words alone? But if you're the one who turned into a girl, when I go back, I can bring your falling red handkerchief 2 to show it to the Elders, then they would surely go all out and jointly promote me as the Sect Leader."

  Ouyang Shang sneered. "Falling red? Who do you think I am? Even if Spirit Sword Sect currently has the directive to conceal one's strength and bide one's time, so that there are not many interactions with the outside world, but… you can't look down on me too much!"

  Wang Lu could only stare dumbfoundedly at him. "You-you've already…"

  Ouyang Shang chuckled and said, "What's the big deal? Did you forget my birth? In Spirit Sword Sect, my old man is known to be one of the people who knows how to enjoy life the most, do you think I don't understand it? Moreover, we're all grown-ups here, so there's no worth in fussing about this kind of thing. Or do you mean to say that until now, you've still not…"

  Wang Lu immediately changed the topic. "Junior Sister is here."

  Ouyang Shang turned around and sure enough, saw someone was coming toward them—the one person on the team that he was most not assured of.

  "Dear Wu, what's the matter?"

  Just as he said that, before Wang Wu could even respond, he saw Wang Lu stumble several steps back and his face turned green and white.

  D-Dear Wu? Damn, why do I feel goosebumps when I heard those two words? Moreover, my muscles are so numb as if they are useless! I-Is there some kind of incantation that contains a terrifying energy?

  Very well, I'll write it down, and when I return to my time, I'll read it for my Master and see her reaction!

  The other two people near him did not notice Wang Lu's strange appearance.

  With a look of indifference, Wang Wu said, "I don't quite understand some aspects of the method, so I hope Senior Brother will give me instruction."

  Then, without waiting for Ouyang Shang to respond, Wang Wu already began to spell out her problem in cultivation one by one.

  Ouyang Shang smiled wryly. It was unknown to him when did he offend her, but this Junior Sister had always been indifferent to him… But, since a Junior Sister had asked a Senior Brother for help, he couldn't just ignore her.

  Ouyang Shang and Wang Wu had different cultivation methods, but by relying on comprehension through analogy, as well as his superior stage, he quickly answered all of Wang Wu's questions—as the sect's Big Brother, he was actually more competent than Wang Lu in this point. And he spared no effort in helping her.

  "Then… Thank you, Senior Brother."

  After Wang Wu wrote down all the answers, she nodded to Ouyang Shang and then turned around to leave. Her mannerism was even colder than before.

  Ouyang Shang naturally felt a bit helpless.

  However, Wang Lu, who was watching this the whole time from the side, found a terrifying truth.

  After Wang Wu turned her head, her face seemed to turn a bit red!