217: The Taoist principle of non-action, using minimal force to achieve maximum effect.

Buzz—

The vibration did not come from a physical shaking of the earth and mountains, but was more akin to ripples on the level of rules.

The heavy, thunderous footsteps of the Titan Legion showed a microscopic delay for the first time. In the eyes of the three Storm Titans at the very front, which looked like lava gems, a trace of instinctive doubt flashed—the solid limestone ground beneath their feet, which carried their peerless power, seemed to have changed in the "feeling" it transmitted.

It hadn't become soft or brittle, but rather ambiguous and elusive.

It was as if some invisible, flowing "intent" had been injected deep into the hard rock.

“Playing tricks!” Thor's Divine Thought boomed like a thunderclap, carrying the fury of being provoked. “A mere illusion Formation thinks it can stop the stride of my Titans? Crush through it!”

He did not issue new orders because he firmly believed that in the face of absolute power, any so-called Formations or techniques were merely futile decorations. The twenty-five Storm Titans, along with him, the Titan Prince, continued to take strides capable of shaking mountains, like twenty-five fully loaded primordial chariots, crashing into the "eerie" area in front of Lin Zhou's god domain core.

However, just as the giant feet of the first row of seven Titans stepped into the edge of the three-kilometer range quietly permeated by Lin Zhou's Divine Power and runes—

A sudden change occurred!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any brilliant Spell radiance. There was only a faint "drip," like a water droplet falling into a deep pool, rippling across the level of rules.

Immediately after, centered on the landing points of those seven Titans, the color of the limestone earth underwent a subtle change—it was no longer a dead dark gray, but instead, a chaotic, constantly flowing mixture of gray and white emerged, as if a giant, living Taiji Diagram was spreading across the surface!

【God Domain Miracle Building/Composite Formation Activated: "Nine Bends Yellow River Immortal-Trapping Formation (Imitation · Miniature Experimental Type) — Phase One: Taiji Force-Dissipation Domain"!】

Builders/Arrangers: Tian Gong Institute Chief Copper Hammer · Jiangxin (Lead on mechanism and rune base), the first Daoist Hero Xuan Zhenzi (Lead on Formation core and Yin and Yang harmony), Mohist Support Scholar Li Mo (Provided logic optimization and energy circuit design).

Core Principle: Uses the Daoist concept of "Yin and Yang transformation, overcoming hardness with softness" as the general outline, integrates precise Mohist Mechanisms to fix the Formation eyes, and borrows the "rule definition" ability initially contained within Lin Zhou's river of civilization to temporarily rewrite local battlefield rules. Non-lethal, focused on entrapment, diversion, and attrition.

Formation Range: A circular area with a radius of approximately 1.5 kilometers (covering the main path in front of Lin Zhou's god domain core).

Current Activation Effect (Phase One):

Earth Property Transformation: Within the Formation's range, the "hard" and "stable" attributes of the earth are partially converted into "flexible" and "bearing" attributes. The support for ultra-heavy units remains unchanged, but the impact force and destructive energy they apply will be absorbed and dispersed more efficiently by the earth.

Taiji Force-Dissipation Field: The Formation operates continuously, creating an invisible "force-dissipation field." For enemy units entering the range, a base 30% of the kinetic energy and shockwaves attached to their physical attacks (especially heavy strikes, stomps, and area tremors) will be forcibly dispersed and guided deep into the earth outside the Formation boundaries, rather than acting entirely on the attack target or the Formation itself. (Note: This effect is weakened against pure energy attacks and mental attacks.)

Yin and Yang Delay: The flowing Yin and Yang Qi (pseudo) within the Formation creates a slight repulsion and sense of delay for non-harmonious units, equivalent to a 10% reduction in all-attribute movement speed (the effect is more pronounced for giant, strength-oriented units as they rely more on brute force than agility).

Energy Consumption: Maintaining the Formation consumes 50 units of Lin Zhou's Divine Power per second; if subjected to high-intensity attacks (such as Titan Smashes), consumption will increase drastically. Each node of the Formation (108 in total) has independent durability; the destruction of a node will cause local Formation failure.

Formation Weaknesses:

Fixed range, zero mobility.

Average diversion effect against continuous, high-frequency attacks with insufficient single-strike power.

If the core Formation eye (located three hundred meters directly in front of the god domain core) is forcefully destroyed, the Formation will instantly collapse.

All of this is complex to describe, but on the battlefield, the change occurred in the instant the Titans took that step!

“Boom!!!”

The giant feet of the seven Titans landed simultaneously. The expected scene of the earth shaking and cracks flying did indeed appear, but... the scale was far smaller than what Thor and Lin Zhou himself had estimated!

The stomping power that should have been enough to shatter the rock layer within a hundred-meter radius and leave deep craters was instead seemingly supported by an invisible, extremely soft giant hand, and then gently "placed" on the ground. Only a few scattered stones splashed, and the cracks on the ground only spread for a dozen meters before stopping feebly. Even weirder, the heavy sound of the stomp became somewhat "muffled," as if most of the power had been absorbed by the earth, with only a small portion of the sound reflecting back.

Even the golden lightning arcs naturally leaping across the Titans' bodies seemed like a clay ox entering the sea when they touched the flowing gray and white ground, their power sharply reduced, only stirring up a few wisps of faint smoke.

“What?!” Thor's pupils constricted slightly. His Titans had a natural perception of the earth, and at this moment, they clearly felt that the ground beneath their feet had become "slippery." Their massive power smashing down was like hitting a bottomless pile of cotton, or more vividly—like a giant hammer hitting elastic, water-soaked heavy leather!

The power was dispersed and guided in all directions deep underground! This completely violated the basic rule of "absolute hardness" in the Immortal Stone Plains!

“Cheap tricks! If your strength is lacking, then add thirty percent more power! Crush it!” Thor didn't believe in such heresy and urged with his Divine Thought. The seven Titans who had entered the Formation, along with the other Titans following behind, simultaneously let out a low roar like grinding rocks, and the lightning on their bodies flared up!

They were no longer just walking; they began to run! Although the speed still didn't seem fast to an ordinary person, each step spanning twenty to thirty meters, carrying the momentum of a mountain collapse, was enough to make any solid city wall tremble!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Eighteen Titans (seven already in the Formation, eleven following in) launched a charge simultaneously, targeting the projection of Lin Zhou's god domain core just three kilometers away in a straight line! That Formation was like a group of enraged primordial giant elephants, intending to use brute force to trample all obstacles ahead!

The gray and white light of the Formation flickered violently under this frenzied charge, like a lake surface into which giant stones had been thrown, ripples spreading madly. Lin Zhou's Divine Power consumption instantly soared, exceeding 80 units per second! Several minor nodes at the edge of the Formation even showed fine cracks under the shockwaves!

But, the Formation held!

The momentum of the Titans' charge was clearly obstructed. The feeling was very awkward—clearly, the ground beneath their feet was still solid earth that could support their massive weight, but whenever they wanted to stomp hard to borrow force for a forward thrust, a portion of the power was always "slid away" or "dissipated," causing their acceleration to never reach expectations. It was like running in extremely viscous asphalt; they had the power to shake mountains, but could not fully convert it into forward kinetic energy.

Moreover, as their (relative) charging speed increased and their steps became heavier, the "force-dissipation" effect of the Formation seemed to be adaptively strengthening! The flowing gray and white Qi seemed to come alive, winding and channeling in reverse along the shockwaves of their footsteps, guiding more destructive power deep underground.

“Swift as the Wind, As Quiet As The Forest!” Lin Zhou's Divine Thought rang out calmly in his side's channel. “Immovable as a Mountain Formation, deploy!”

In this precious interval where the Titans were delayed by the "Taiji Force-Dissipation Domain" and their speed had not fully picked up, the ground in front of Lin Zhou's god domain core suddenly rose up like the spine of a living giant beast, rumbling!

It wasn't a city wall or a barrier, but a series of crisscrossing, varying-height earthen ridges! The rise of these ridges was without warning, and they were not vertical or steep, but instead presented a rounded, smooth curvature, connecting to each other to form a complex, three-dimensional buffer zone!

This was the practical Fusion application of the School of Military's defensive Formation "Immovable as a Mountain" with the School of Agriculture's "Adaptation to Local Conditions" and the Mohist "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature"!

【Fortification Construction: Composite Buffer Defense Zone】

Execution Units: Tiangong Dwarves Engineering Corps (Main force), Law Fishmen auxiliary positioning (Ensuring compliance with defensive Formation laws), Wenxin Elves Priest Corps (Using nature Spells to slightly soften the rock layer for easier shaping).

Core Concept: Not seeking to block with absolute hardness, but rather to neutralize impact through multiple layers and angles.

Structural Features:

Arc-shaped Slopes: All intercepting surfaces are slopes or curved surfaces, causing the direct force to deflect.

Hollow Internal/Honeycomb Structure: A large number of gaps and stress-dispersing structures were urgently constructed inside the earthen ridges, acting like natural shock absorbers.

Root-style Anchoring: Where the bottom of the ridges meets the earth, "Earth-Fixing Talismans" were temporarily hammered in by Daoist practitioners, and they were connected to the energy of the "Taiji Force-Dissipation Domain" Formation behind them, forming a whole.

Depth Configuration: Not just one wall, but three main buffer ridges front to back, interspersed with pitfalls (disguised), flexible vine nets (grown by elves), and other auxiliary obstacles.

Estimated Defensive Effect: Against linear charges and massive smashing attacks, it can theoretically absorb and deflect 40%-50% of the initial impact force, and transmit and disperse the remaining impact to a wider area of ground through the structure. However, it is less effective against continuous gouging or energy erosion.

Almost in the second after the buffer defense zone took shape, the Titan vanguard arrived!

“Roar!!!”

The Storm Titan charging at the very front, facing the suddenly rising, smoothly curved earthen slope ridge, did not have the slightest hesitation or thought of bypassing it—in a Titan's dictionary, there was no such thing as "bypassing"! He roared, condensing all his body's strength and charging momentum into his right shoulder, like a meteor fired from a cannon, slamming hard into the first buffer ridge!

Boom—!!!

This time the sound was even more muffled, even carrying a peculiar "thud" sound.

The expected scene of the ridge collapsing and earth and stone flying did not occur. That Titan felt like he hadn't hit rock, but a small mountain wrapped in thick rubber and filled with elasticity! The massive impact force was guided upwards and to both sides the moment it contacted the curved surface. The rock of his incredibly hard shoulder rubbed against the slope, making an ear-piercing screeching sound and splashing a trail of sparks, but the slope itself only vibrated violently, with surface soil falling away, while the main structure actually held!

What made him even more uncomfortable was that after hitting it, that reaction force was also sticky and soft, making it impossible to use the force to bounce back and adjust his posture; instead, it made him stumble, and his charging momentum plummeted.

Immediately after, the second and third Titans followed in quick succession! Some smashed with fists, some stomped with feet, and some even tried to pull the ridge apart with their hands!

Boom! Boom! Bang! Crack!

The muffled impact sounds were continuous, like heavy hammers striking a giant drum covered in thick leather. The buffer defense zone shook violently under the terrifying giant force, with layers of earth and stone constantly peeling off the surface, even showing cracks and local depressions, but the overall skeleton still stood firm! It successfully dispersed, absorbed, and digested the first and most violent wave of the Titans' charging momentum!

Eighteen Titans were actually stopped by these seemingly unremarkable, arc-shaped earthen obstacles eight hundred meters away from Lin Zhou's god domain core!

“Dammit! What kind of ghost thing is this!” Thor was shocked and furious. He saw with his own eyes one of the Titans under his command smash a full-power punch into a ridge, only for the fist to sink in half a meter and be caught by the layers of flexible structures, making it difficult even to pull out, with the damage caused being far lower than expected.

“Smash it for me! Use ‘Thunder Strike’! Blast these annoying piles of dirt flat for me!” Thor roared, his thunder warhammer pointing to the sky, drawing down even more frenzied lightning.

The Titans responded one after another, temporarily stopping their inefficient ramming and raising giant fists or weapons wreathed in lightning. Surging thunder power and earth-shaking giant force began to condense—they were going to activate skills to perform point-blank explosive clearing!

At that moment, Lin Zhou's Divine Thought rang out again, as calm as eternal ice: “Xuan Zhenzi, trigger ‘Yin-Yang Turbulence’! Target, enemy power-gathering points! Copper Hammer, prepare the mechanical beast swarm for distracting fire! Elf Rangers, ‘Wind Whisper Arrow’ coverage, interrupt their casting wind-up!”

The Daoist Hero Xuan Zhenzi, who had been standing quietly at a high platform somewhere in the god domain core, holding a whisk with pure Qi swirling around him, suddenly opened his eyes. Within his eyes, two Yin-Yang fish seemed to be flowing.

“I receive the decree! Yin and Yang in disorder, borrowing law from Heaven and Earth—Swift!”

He waved the whisk in his hand, and the talisman Formation beneath his feet, which had long been connected to the "Taiji Force-Dissipation Domain" Formation core, shone brilliantly. Within the Formation's range, the originally orderly flowing gray and white Qi suddenly became locally reversed and turbulent!

This turbulence was not Chaos, but targeted interference. Beneath the feet and around the Titans who were condensing thunder power and preparing to launch "Thunder Strike," the balance of Yin and Yang Qi was briefly broken.

【Daoist Combo Skill (Formation Application): Yin-Yang Turbulence Interference】

Caster: Xuan Zhenzi (LV38, Daoist Hero)

Effect: Temporarily disrupts the stability of energy and force fields within a small area (radius of approximately 50 meters).

Impact on Titan "Thunder Strike":

Thunder power condensation efficiency reduced by 25%, skill preparation time extended by 0.5-1 second.

The combination of physical strength and lightning energy showed slight disharmony, resulting in a 5-10% reduction in the skill's final power (due to partial energy consumption or dissipation within the turbulence field).

(Minor Effect) Causes a slight balance disturbance to Titans who rely on a stable connection to the earth.

Cost: A significant amount of Xuan Zhenzi's Mental Energy, plus an additional 30 Divine Power per second drawn from Lin Zhou by the Formation (continues until the interference ends).

It was precisely this crucial interference that caused a subtle lag and disharmony in the Titans' skill release!

And in that moment of lag—

Swoosh swoosh swoosh—!!!

The Wenxin Elf Rangers, positioned in bunkers behind the buffer defense zone, fired their long-prepared "Wind Whisper Arrows"! These arrows did not seek ultimate penetration; instead, they were imbued with highly condensed Wind Elementals and a trace of Confucian "Righteous Word" power. They were incredibly fast, specifically targeting fragile or critical areas such as eyes, ears, joints, and power-gathering points.

Simultaneously, several hidden exits on the ground opened, and dozens of small, swift Mohist Mechanical beasts (wolf-type and bee-type) swarmed out. They did not engage in close combat but instead fired poisoned crossbow needles from a distance, threw explosive talismans, or simply rushed to the Titans' feet and self-detonated! The damage was minor, but the insult and interference were extremely high!

Clap clap clap! Ting ting! Boom boom!

The Wind Whisper Arrows shattered against the Titans' hard rock skin, most leaving only white spots; only a few that hit weak spots like eye sockets caused minor damage. The attacks from the mechanical beasts were even more like mere tickles.

However, their purpose was to interrupt and interfere!

The Titans, who were gathering power, were irritated by these fly-like harassments, especially with the airflow from the Wind Whisper Arrows constantly buffeting their eyes and obstructing their vision. Although the self-detonations of the mechanical beasts at their feet couldn't hurt them, they disrupted their power-generating posture and balance. Combined with the interference of the "Yin-Yang Turbulence" on energy condensation... several Titans' "Thunder Strikes" were forced back or released prematurely, their power greatly reduced, only blowing a few small gaps in the buffer defense zone, far from achieving the effect of "leveling" it.

"Bastards! Creepers! Is this the only underhanded means you have?!" Thor was fuming with rage; he had never fought such a stifling battle! He possessed world-destroying power, yet it felt as if he were stuck in an invisible quagmire—every punch hit empty air, and he was constantly bitten by mosquitoes.

"Student Thor," Lin Zhou's calm Divine Thought transmitted, echoing clearly on the public channel, "The strong are easily broken. Have you ever seen a flood strike a reef? The reef is hard, yet its edges are eventually worn away. Have you ever seen a gale break an ancient pine? The pine is flexible and can instead stand against the wind. This is Softness Overcoming Hardness, Stillness Controlling Movement."

These words were not only for Thor but for all the spectators. He was explaining his tactical thinking and, more importantly, spreading a completely different philosophy of combat.

"Bullshit! Fallacies and heresies!" Thor was beyond furious and no longer cared about holding back. "Star Shatterer! Smash a path open for me!"

He personally gave the order, commanding the strongest Titan hero—Thor's Hammer · Star Shatterer—to activate his ace skill!

"Roar—!!!"

Star Shatterer let out a roar that shook the heavens. He strode past the other Titans and arrived before the buffer defense zone. He raised the giant war hammer, entwined with destructive golden lightning, high into the air. Infinite lightning was drawn from the sky, converging at the hammerhead, and the black, mountain-like body of the hammer seemed to transform into a miniature storm core! The dark blue rock patterns all over his body erupted with blinding light as boundless, peerless power was frantically injected!

[Titan Hero Skill Omen: "Earth Shatter" activated!]

Target: The core area of the buffer defense zone directly ahead (approximately one hundred meters wide).

Power Estimate: Sufficient to destroy a hundred-meter city wall made of conventional materials in an undisturbed state with a single hit, causing devastating splash damage and long-duration stun to units behind it.

Wind-up Time: Approximately 2.5 seconds (slightly longer than the theoretical value due to Formation interference and the hero's own power-gathering).

If this hammer fell, the buffer defense zone Lin Zhou had meticulously arranged would likely be pierced through! Even the rear positions and Formation nodes would suffer heavy damage!

All the spectators held their breath. Zhao Hao, Wang Meng, and others clenched their fists, cold sweat pouring down.

However, at this moment, Lin Zhou's eyes lit up with startling intensity.

"I've been waiting for this full-power strike... Xuan Zhenzi! Change the Formation! 'Shifting the Flower to the Tree', 'Guiding Power into the Abyss'! All units, maximum alert, prepare to withstand the aftershocks!"

Xuan Zhenzi's hair and beard flared as pure Qi surged through him. He swung his fly-whisk so hard it nearly snapped: "Yin and Yang reversed, Heaven and Earth shifted! The Formation pivot turns, all power returns to the void—Open!"

The light of the "Taiji Force-Dissipation Domain" Formation suddenly surged! The massive gray-and-white Taiji Diagram covering the ground actually began to spin and sink rapidly in the area beneath Star Shatterer's point of impact! It was as if an invisible vortex specifically designed for massive force had suddenly appeared there!

At the same time, the part of the buffer defense zone facing Star Shatterer instantly changed its structure under the fine-tuning of Mohist Mechanisms—the surface soil and rock actively retracted inward to form a larger curve, while more internal cavity layers were activated. The entire structure shifted from "hard resistance" to "extreme redirection"!

Star Shatterer's "Earth Shatter" finally slammed down!

Time seemed to slow down at this moment.

The giant hammer, entwined with destructive golden lightning, tore through the air with the momentum of crushing stars and slammed heavily into the center of the rapidly spinning and sinking Taiji Diagram, landing on the buffer ridge where the curve was greatest and the structure was "softest"!

There was no deafening explosion.

Only a muffled sound, as if from the dawn of creation or the swallowing of Chaos.

Where the hammer fell, the light was blinding to the extreme—a sign of lightning and massive force being frantically compressed and then released. But the expected scene of soil and stone flying into the sky and a shockwave sweeping everything away... was greatly diminished!

The part of the buffer ridge that was hit was like playdough pressed by an invisible giant hand, instantly sinking, deforming, and tearing! A large amount of rock and soil was not blown away but instead "flowed" and splashed like water along the curved slope toward the sides and the rear! And more than half of the core power of the hammer strike seemed to be sucked in by that rotating Taiji vortex!

Through the Formation and the countless pre-set power-guiding runes and cavity structures deep within the earth, this destructive force was frantically diverted, guided, and vented into the unknown depths of the rock layers beneath the Immortal Stone Plains!

Rumble rumble rumble—!!!

The earth trembled violently, but this vibration came from deep within and was widespread rather than concentrated. Centered on the point of impact, the ground for hundreds of meters around rose and fell like waves, and cracks spread like spiderwebs, but the main destructive power was indeed guided deep underground. A portion of the power was even mysteriously "borrowed" by the Formation, actually strengthening the stability of other areas of the Formation.

Of course, the price Lin Zhou paid to withstand such a blow was also immense:

Divine Power evaporated instantly: Over 1,500 units of Divine Power were drained by the Formation in this single strike to maintain the structure and guide the energy. Lin Zhou's Divine Power reserves plummeted.

Formation damage: Twelve Formation nodes directly beneath the impact point overloaded and collapsed on the spot, and over thirty surrounding nodes developed cracks. The overall effectiveness of the "Taiji Force-Dissipation Domain" dropped by about 15%.

Buffer defense zone pierced: The section of the buffer ridge hit directly disappeared completely, forming a giant pit about thirty meters wide and ten meters deep, with loose structural edges. A clear gap appeared in the defense zone.

Aftershock damage: Although most of the power was guided away, the dissipated shockwaves and lightning still caused damage to some Elf Rangers and mechanisms within the rear bunkers. Dozens of elves suffered minor injuries, and over a dozen mechanical beasts were destroyed by the tremors.

However, compared to the theoretical city-destroying and world-crushing power of Star Shatterer's "Earth Shatter," this result was as good as it could possibly be!

More importantly—after this hammer strike, Star Shatterer fell into a brief period of skill recovery and power depletion! His giant hammer was buried deep at the bottom of the pit, the lightning around him dimmed, and his aura showed a clear decline. The other Titans behind him were also shocked by this eerie strike, whose power had been mostly "swallowed," causing their offensive to stall.

The dust slowly dispersed, revealing the massive crater and, across from it, Lin Zhou's god domain, which, though slightly messy, still had its core positions firmly established.

Thor stared at this scene in dumbfounded silence, unable to believe his eyes. Star Shatterer's full-power strike... was just "eaten" like that? Like a punch thrown into a bottomless abyss?

Lin Zhou's slightly breathless but still steady Divine Thought rang out again, passing through the dust and transmitting clearly:

"How is it, Student Thor? Hardness cannot last, and softness cannot defend forever. How many more times can your Titan power be squandered like this? My Formation, however, has not yet been fully revealed."

He paused, his voice carrying a strange resonance that seemed to vibrate with the rhythm of heaven and earth:

"This is Daoist Wu Wei. Wu Wei is not 'doing nothing,' but rather acting according to the trend and guiding based on circumstances. Your power is also a type of heaven and earth power; why can it not be used by me to instead damage your own morale?"

As his voice fell, the light of the damaged Formation began to circulate once more, though it was somewhat weaker. At the gap in the buffer defense zone, the Tiangong Dwarves had already begun frantic repairs, with rock and soil rapidly closing up under the influence of Spells and mechanisms. The Elf Rangers notched their arrows again, and mechanical beasts emerged once more from the backup exits.

The eighteen Titans, including the slightly panting Star Shatterer who was struggling to pull out his war hammer, stood at the edge of the pit. Looking at the defense line across from them—which seemed fragile yet repeatedly made it difficult for them to exert their strength—for the first time, a trace of... confusion and solemnity appeared in those lava-gem-like eyes, alongside their rage.

The battlefield fell into a brief, eerie stalemate.

But everyone knew this was just the suffocating silence before a greater storm. Thor would never let it go, and Lin Zhou seemed to still have more cards up his sleeve.

The war of attrition had only just begun. Could the Titans' prideful, seemingly infinite stamina really outlast Lin Zhou—who held his ground with Formations and wisdom, backed by a complete god domain—in this strange and awkward quagmire of a battle?

The spectator channel had already boiled over.

"What did I just see?! Is that... a Formation?! A true composite Formation capable of rewriting local rules?"

"Taiji force deflection... Four Taels to Move a Thousand Catties... is this the power of Daoist thought?"

"It's not hard resistance; it's guidance and diversion! My god, you can actually fight a war like this?"

"How terrifying was that hammer strike from Thor's hero! And yet more than half of it was eaten? What level is this Formation?"

"Lin Zhou's Divine Power consumption must be massive, but looking at the situation, he withstood the first and most violent wave of the assault!"

"Titans' stamina isn't infinite either! If every full-power attack is 'slid away' or 'eaten' like this, their consumption will be even greater than Lin Zhou's!"

"The scales of victory... seem to be less tilted now?"

A thunderous cheer erupted from the Hundred Schools Society's base. Zhao Hao slammed his fist onto the table: "Great! Old Lin is incredible! This Formation is absolutely brilliant!" Wang Meng's eyes were shining as he stared fixedly at the rotating gray-and-white Taiji Diagram on the light screen, murmuring: "Softness Overcoming Hardness... so power can be used like this..."

Su Yueyao sat quietly in the front row of the spectator seats, the battlefield images reflected in her cool eyes. The corners of her mouth curled into a very faint but stunning arc as she whispered to herself: "Wu Wei, yet nothing is left undone... Lin Zhou, you have truly lit up the wisdom of that Lost civilization."

On the battlefield, Lin Zhou felt the rapid consumption of Divine Power and the feedback from the Formation and defense zone, his brain working at high speed.

"Phase one goal achieved: successfully blocked the most violent first strike and greatly consumed the opponent's ace skill and morale. However, 12% of the Formation nodes are damaged, overall efficiency has dropped, and Divine Power reserves are down to 65%... Thor might change his tactics next, no longer simply charging and smashing blindly..."

His gaze swept across the battlefield, past the Titan giants who were beginning to look agitated due to their repeatedly frustrated attacks, and toward the distant Divine Thought projection of Thor, which exuded an aura of rage and unwillingness.

"Be angry, be agitated... anger will blind your eyes, and agitation will waste your strength." Lin Zhou's heart was as clear as a mirror. "The School of Military says: If they are angry, harass them; if they are humble, make them arrogant; if they are at ease, tire them out..."

"In the next phase, it's time to make you a bit more 'tired'."

He slowly raised his hand, his Divine Thought sinking deep into the Temple of Civilization. The phantom of the river of civilization, which was flowing slowly and becoming increasingly solid, rippled slightly.

"School of the Military's Exhaustion Tactic, activate. Mohist Mechanical Guerrilla, prepare. School of Names' Sophistry Disturbance, wait for an opportunity."

"Let's see whether your Titan body feels fatigue first, or if my civilization's position exhausts its last bit of Divine Power first."

Under the iron-gray sky of the Immortal Stone Plains, one hard and one soft, one bright and one dark, the duel between the two great god domains entered an even more perilous and sophisticated second stage. The soft power of Daoist Wu Wei, like the toughest spiderweb, began to truly entangle the giants who were capable of shaking heaven and earth.