255: Taoist formation techniques to disrupt the enemy's energy source

Dome Arena, Second Round.

The audience's enthusiasm was even higher than in the first round. Especially after the Hundred Schools Squad pulled off an upset by defeating the College of Science and Engineering's Heart of the Anvil, this originally overlooked literature and law team instantly attracted countless curious and scrutinizing gazes. In the stands, the blue flag area belonging to the School of Literature and Law erupted with particularly loud cheers.

The massive holographic screen updated the match information:

【Second Round, Second Match】

School of Literature and Law · Hundred Schools Squad vs War College · Heart of Steel Squad

Map: 【Energy Canyon】 (Large, 70% rugged mountains and canyons, 30% energy accumulation plains, the environment is filled with unstable free energy)

Victory Conditions: Same as above.

Match Status: Preparation Phase (5-minute countdown)

“Heart of Steel! One of the aces of the War College's mechanical side! Top four in last year's championship!”

“Captain Keith, lv210, early-stage Lesser Divinity, Divine Domain 【Precision Architecture】. It's said he follows an elite mechanical route of ‘quality over quantity,’ completely different from the College of Science and Engineering's steel torrent!”

“His mechanical units might not be as numerous, but every single one is an elite. Their energy Systems are more precise, their shields are stronger, and their tactics are more flexible and varied!”

“The Hundred Schools Squad just won a match and their Aura is at its peak, but this match is the real tough battle!”

“Look at the map, Energy Canyon! The free energy in the environment is both a boost (it can be absorbed) and a potential instability factor for mechanical units that rely on a stable energy supply. It all depends on who can better utilize the environment.”

In the preparation room, the atmosphere was even more solemn than the first match.

The tactical table projected a detailed map of the 【Energy Canyon】 and the limited known intelligence on the Heart of Steel Squad. Keith, lv210, his core followers consist of various special operations mecha and Support Drones. His tactical style is known for precise coordinated operations, efficient point elimination, and strong environmental adaptability.

“The opponent will likely use the canyon terrain to perform split-and-encircle maneuvers or ambushes,” Lin Zhou analyzed. “Their units are more refined, and their individual combat capability might be stronger, but their numbers are relatively small. Our advantage lies in tactical diversity and the ability to interfere at the rule level. Especially the environment of this map—unstable free energy.”

He looked at Li Mo: “Li Mo, analyze the environmental energy spectrum of the Energy Canyon and find frequency bands or fluctuation patterns that could interfere with precision mechanical energy circuits.”

Li Mo was already in the zone, his fingers flying across the data panel: “Analyzing... The free energy is in a mixed state of multiple frequency bands, pulse-style instability... There are several ‘Energy Turbulence’ nodes. Energy fluctuations near these nodes are violent, enough to pose an overload risk to unprotected mechanical units below lv30. The opponent definitely has countermeasures, but if we can actively induce or amplify this interference...”

Lin Zhou nodded, his eyes flashing: “That is exactly the key. Qin Qing, your Judgment Angel is sensitive to Order energy. Can you try to guide or disturb the Order in specific areas to indirectly affect energy stability?”

Qin Qing thought for a moment: “I can try, but the effect is unknown, and it will require a large amount of Divine Power for fine manipulation, which might affect combat endurance.”

“No need to maintain it the whole time.” Lin Zhou already had an idea. “I need a ‘switch,’ something that can briefly but intensely interfere with the energy supply of the opponent's key units at a critical moment.”

He paused, and various descriptions from Daoist scriptures regarding ‘Yin and Yang and the Five Elements,’ ‘Spiritual Qi generation and restriction,’ and ‘Formation disturbance’ surfaced in his mind. Combined with the related knowledge unlocked in the Temple of Civilization, a preliminary concept gradually became clear.

“Perhaps... I can try a new application,” Lin Zhou said slowly. “Combining the theories of Daoist ‘Yin and Yang and the Five Elements’ and ‘Spiritual Qi generation and restriction’ with my own river of civilization's slight influence on rules to form a temporary, area-of-effect ‘Spirit-Disturbing Formation.’ The goal isn't a direct attack, but to create a small-scale, extreme ‘Spiritual Qi’—or rather, ‘basic energy rule’—disorder, specifically targeting mechanical targets that rely on precise, stable energy circuits.”

“Spirit-Disturbing Formation?” Zhao Hao was curious. “Sounds like some kind of cultivation thing? Will it work?”

“It's feasible in principle,” Li Mo answered quickly. “Mechanical units, especially high-precision ones, rely on highly stable and standardized energy circuits for their energy transmission, weapon Systems, shield generation, and even core logic operations. If the basic energy environment suddenly becomes extremely chaotic and disordered, it's like throwing sand into the lubricant of a precision instrument—at best, performance drops; at worst, it shorts out and parayzes! But implementing it... requires an extremely deep mastery of energy rules.”

“It doesn't need to be extremely deep, just a momentary, targeted, intense disturbance,” Lin Zhou explained. “I can use the river of civilization to invoke the concepts of ‘Tao Follows Nature’ and ‘Yin-Yang Imbalance’ from the Hundred Schools of Thought, combining them with the map's own free energy ‘powder keg’ to ignite a small-scale ‘Rule Disorder Storm.’ Theoretically, as long as the timing and location are right, it's enough to cause severe functional impairment to mechanical units within the range for several to over ten seconds.”

“It sounds risky, but it's worth a try,” Qin Qing evaluated objectively. “If it succeeds, it will be a Sharp Weapon to break the deadlock and create combat opportunities.”

“Then it's decided,” Lin Zhou finalized. “Tactical core: Focus on defense and reconnaissance in the early stage to figure out the opponent's main force configuration and possible tactical intentions. Li Mo's scout units will focus on detecting Energy Turbulence nodes and the opponent's possible energy relay points or command nodes. Wang Meng and Zhao Hao, your mission is still to attract and pin them down, but this time, focus more on preserving strength and using the terrain to maneuver. Qin Qing, your Judgment Angel will be responsible for purifying possible environmental negative effects (like energy erosion) and protecting key units. When I give the signal, everyone, focus fire on the designated area!”

The countdown hit zero.

Consciousness descended into the 【Energy Canyon】.

Lin Zhou's divine domain core was projected in a semi-enclosed small valley with a steep rock wall behind it and natural giant boulders in front for cover, making it easy to defend and hard to attack. Between the jagged rocks, colorful streams of free energy flowed like auroras, sometimes calm and sometimes fluctuating violently, emitting a low hum.

In the team link, information was exchanged rapidly.

“Reconnaissance swarms released... High energy reaction units detected! Three o'clock direction, about two kilometers away, upstream in the canyon!” Li Mo's voice carried a hint of tension. “The numbers... aren't as many as the last match, but the energy readings are generally higher! Confirmed at least four Heavy Mecha above lv35, models unknown, shield strength is more than five times that of standard models! There are also a large number of lv30 Fast Assault Mecha and Support Drones!”

“The opponent is using the terrain and energy flows for cover, slowly advancing toward our direction. Their Formation is dispersed but coordinated; they are very cautious,” Qin Qing added. Her Judgment Angel possessed excellent perception of Order, allowing her to detect the patterns inherent in the opponent's precise movements.

“No obvious command core found... It might be hidden inside one of the Heavy Mecha, or they might be using a distributed command network,” Li Mo continued his analysis.

Lin Zhou observed calmly. The opponent was indeed following an elite route, and their tactics were even more cunning. They were in no rush to attack, instead steadily closing in while using the environmental energy flows to mask themselves and attempting to occupy advantageous terrain.

“Wang Meng, Zhao Hao, as planned, move forward to Zone B (a relatively open gravel slope about five hundred meters in front of the valley) and establish a forward contact point. Be sure to maintain contact with the rear and don't advance recklessly. Qin Qing, the Angel Squad will provide aerial surveillance and cover. Li Mo, continue monitoring, focusing on finding the opponent's possible energy convergence points or suspected command nodes.”

Orders were given, and the squad began moving.

Wang Meng's Behemoth and Troll troops relied on the boulders on the gravel slope to construct a simple defensive line. Zhao Hao only let the Red Dragon Raging Flame circle at low altitude as a warning, while the other Dragons remained hidden. Qin Qing's Judgment Angel deployed on a slightly higher rock ridge, their Holy Light restrained like arrows ready to fly.

Soon, Heart of Steel's mechanical forces appeared in their field of vision.

Their appearance was completely different from the robots in the previous match. The four Heavy Mecha were like mobile steel fortresses with sharp lines and thick armor. Their joints had complex energy conduction structures, and their backs and shoulders were equipped with multi-barrel missile launchers and high-energy beam cannons. Their movement was not clumsy; instead, it carried a sense of precise coordination. Dozens of Fast Assault Mecha leaped and threaded through the rocks like cheetahs, moving swiftly. In the sky, dozens of small reconnaissance/attack drones circled like a swarm of bees.

The opponent did not initiate a charge immediately but stopped about eight hundred meters from the gravel slope. The armor plates on the chests of several Heavy Mecha slid open, revealing complex scanning arrays that began a deep scan of Wang Meng's defensive line. The drone swarms dispersed, conducting reconnaissance from multiple angles.

“They are analyzing our defensive weaknesses and troop configuration,” Lin Zhou understood clearly. “They want to break through precisely with the minimum cost.”

Sure enough, a moment later, the opponent's attack began. It wasn't a full-line push; instead, two Fast Assault Mecha led a small squad of drones to conduct a probing attack from the flank. Energy rifles and miniature missiles were accurately fired at the joints of the Troll Headhunters and the defensive fortifications.

Wang Meng commanded the Trolls to return fire, while the Behemoths remained stationary. Zhao Hao's Raging Flame spat Dragon Breath to intercept. The battle unfolded locally; it wasn't large in scale, but it was very intense. The opponent's attacks were precise and efficient, and the Trolls quickly suffered casualties, while the assault mecha were exceptionally flexible under drone cover, suffering minimal losses.

“They are wearing us down and testing our reaction speed.” Lin Zhou frowned. This style of fighting was annoying; it would constantly bleed them while exposing their tactical habits and firepower points.

“Li Mo, have you found the energy nodes?”

"Trying... the energy shielding of the opponent's units is very well done, but there are still subtle energy fluctuations leaking during attacks and movement... Analyzing based on the disturbance patterns of environmental energy flow... Found it!" Li Mo's voice suddenly rose. "That Heavy Mecha located at the left-rear (labeled Alpha), its back energy core's fluctuations show regular enhancement and coordination whenever other units perform high-intensity attacks or maneuvers! It is likely a regional energy coordination node, or even a secondary command node! Additionally, near an Energy Turbulence node about three hundred meters behind them, a weak, continuous energy relay signal was detected; there might be a hidden mobile energy supply station or signal enhancement station!"

"Good!" Lin Zhou's spirits lifted. "The Alpha mecha and the location of that suspected relay station—send me the coordinates."

The data arrived. The Alpha mecha's position was relatively forward, situated between two guard Heavy Mechas, with assault mechas surrounding it. The suspected relay station was further back, hidden behind a forest of stalagmites where Energy Turbulence was intense, and its defenses were relatively weak.

"Qin Qing, Zhao Hao, Wang Meng, prepare to coordinate." Lin Zhou took a deep breath, his consciousness sinking into his divine Domain, communicating with the river of civilization.

He began to mobilize Divine Power, invoking the ideological imprints of 'Tao Follows Nature' and 'Yin and Yang Five Elements' contained within the river of civilization. These thoughts themselves did not possess direct offensive power, but they were an understanding and exposition of the laws of the world's operation (including energy). Under the blessing of the river of civilization and driven by Lin Zhou's concentrated will, these thoughts began to resonate faintly with the rules of the real world.

He locked onto the two coordinate areas provided by Li Mo—specifically the hundred-meter radius around the Alpha mecha and the airspace above the suspected relay station.

"Tao Follows Nature... Yin and Yang generate and also restrain each other... The Five Elements rotate, and Spiritual Qi (energy) is not immutable... Extreme Order is stagnation; only by introducing Chaos can nature be seen..."

Following Lin Zhou's silent chanting and infusion of Divine Power (Consuming Divine Power: 3000 points), the ambient free energy in the target areas began to undergo extremely subtle but fundamental changes!

This change was not a crude energy impact, but a subtle 'tilt' and 'stirring' at the rule level. It was like dropping a resonator of a specific frequency into a calm lake, causing the entire local water area to produce complex, destructive standing waves.

Around the Alpha mecha, the free energy that was originally smoothed out by its precise energy System for easy absorption and utilization suddenly became violent and 'toxic.' The energy frequencies became chaotic, positive and negative polarities jumped wildly, and the Five Elements attributes (if applying this concept) lost balance—sometimes burning hot, sometimes bone-chillingly cold, sometimes heavy and stagnant, sometimes sharp and explosive.

This was exactly—the Spirit Disturbing Formation! (First time used in actual combat, named.)

[Spirit Disturbing Formation (Lin Zhou · First Version)]

Type: Area Rule / Environmental Interference Skill

Principle: Invokes the Taoist Yin and Yang Five Elements mutual generation and restraint ideology, combined with the river of civilization's weak interference power over rules, to create extreme 'basic energy rule disorder' in a local area.

Effect:

Within range (radius approx. 100 meters), all mechanical/energy life units relying on stable, precise external energy environments or internal energy circuits will be severely interfered with. Effects include:

Energy shield stability drops significantly (efficiency -50% to -80%, depending on unit resistance).

Energy weapon charging speed slows down, shooting accuracy decreases, and misfires or barrel explosions may occur (probability).

Maneuvering System control failure (movement speed -30%, difficulty turning).

Internal precision logic components are impacted; brief crashes or program errors may occur (similar to a low-level logic virus, but originating from the external environment).

Duration: Base 3 seconds, affected by the caster's Divine Power maintenance and the degree of energy disorder in the target area. Current estimated effective interference time: 15-20 seconds (effect enhanced because environmental energy on the map is already active).

Consumption: High Divine Power (3000 points for initial construction, 500 points per second for maintenance), requires high rule mastery from the caster.

Restrictions: Minimal effect on non-energy dependent units or units with extremely crude, sturdy energy Systems (such as pure physical creatures, certain elemental lives); effect reduced against units with strong rule stabilization abilities or exclusive energy Domains.

Buzz—!!!

Invisible to the naked eye, but a strange fluctuation that all deities and precision mechanical units could 'feel' suddenly spread across the two target areas!

The first to be hit were the Alpha Heavy Mecha and its surrounding guard and assault units.

The thick light-blue energy shield on the surface of the Alpha mecha flickered wildly like a lightbulb with a bad connection, its brightness decaying rapidly until, with a 'pop,' it completely dissipated! The energy core on its back emitted abnormal overload humming and electric sparks, and the light from the high-energy beam cannon on its shoulder flickered intermittently, the charging progress bar jumping back and forth.

The surrounding guard and assault mechas were even worse off. The shields of the two guard mechas also collapsed, their movements becoming stiff and sluggish as if rusted. Those agile assault mechas were like they were drunk, failing frequently while jumping among the rocks; two even collided directly, sparks flying. The beams fired from their energy rifles became crooked and completely lacked accuracy.

Even more fatal, a dull thud and the hiss of energy leakage came from the direction of the suspected relay station; clearly, the hidden equipment had malfunctioned or even exploded in the violent energy disorder.

"Now's the time!" Lin Zhou shouted sharply. "Qin Qing, Chains of Order, target the Alpha mecha! Zhao Hao, all Dragons, focus fire on Alpha! Wang Meng, Behemoth charge, crush the enemies in front! Li Mo, interfere with the opponent's communications and drone swarms!"

The opportunity was fleeting!

Qin Qing was already prepared. Two even more solid [Chains of Order] shot through the air, accurately wrapping around the Alpha mecha, which had lost its shield and was stiff in its movements! Forced imprisonment + rule suppression + energy siphoning!

Zhao Hao's four Dragons (Raging Flame, Ice Scale, Poison Wing, Dark Scale) burst forth with full power from their hiding places, their Dragon Breath pouring out like a four-colored torrent, unreservedly drenching the Alpha mecha bound by the chains! Without its shield, the heavy armor rapidly melted, deformed, and disintegrated under the baptism of the composite Dragon Breath!

Wang Meng's Behemoths, led by Giant Rock, let out earth-shaking roars and suddenly charged from behind the rubble slope, launching a long-prepared [War Stomp]! The earth trembled, shaking the assault mechas in front—who were also affected by the Spirit Disturbing Formation and struggling to move—into disarray. Then, the giant palms of the Behemoths and the spears of the Trolls swept through like a storm!

Li Mo's Mechanical Goblins released a wide-range [Data Interference Wave] (targeting wireless signals) while simultaneously detonating [Electromagnetic Pulse Traps] pre-arranged in rock crevices, further disrupting the communication coordination between the opponent's drone swarms and units.

In just ten seconds!

The Formation and tactics carefully laid out by the Heart of Steel squad suffered fatal Chaos and fragmentation due to the sudden 'failure' of the core node, the Alpha mecha, and the interruption of rear support!

Keith's furious roar echoed in the simulated battlefield. He tried to command other units to rescue or regroup, but communications were blocked, and some units were still under the lingering effects of the Spirit Disturbing Formation, reacting sluggishly.

Fifteen seconds later, under the continuous focused fire of the four Dragons and the suppression of the Chains of Order, the Alpha mecha exploded with a bang!

Command node destroyed (or heavily damaged), energy support interrupted, Formation disrupted.

The remaining battle lost its suspense. Although the remaining mechanical units of Heart of Steel were still elite, they were doomed in the face of the Hundred Schools Squad's methodical division, encirclement, and focused strikes while they lacked coordination and fought individually.

Twenty minutes later, as the last Heavy Mecha was torn to pieces by Wang Meng's Behemoths and Zhao Hao's Dragons working together, the match ended.

Hundred Schools Squad took another victory! Advancing to the top sixteen!

The arena boiled over again!

"Won again?! Even faster this time!"

"What was that just now? How did the Alpha mecha's shield suddenly disappear? Its movements stiffened too?"

"It seems Lin Zhou did something... a skill never seen before?"

"Rule interference? Environmental utilization? Too eerie!"

"The Hundred Schools Squad... truly cannot be judged by common sense!"

In the preparation room, the five returned.

"Old Lin! That move was too divine!" Zhao Hao danced with excitement. "Those iron lumps all went stupid at once! Hahaha!"

Wang Meng also grinned: "Saved a lot of effort!"

Li Mo leaned in front of Lin Zhou with glowing eyes: "Data! I need the detailed data of the Spirit Disturbing Formation! Rule disturbance patterns, energy spectrum change curves, interference coefficients for different types of mechanical units... this has immense research value!"

Qin Qing looked at Lin Zhou, her eyes holding more than just recognition—there was a hint of inquiry: "It wasn't pure power suppression, but an exquisite use of rules and the environment. Your 'Dao' is even more... profound than I imagined."

Lin Zhou felt a slight sense of emptiness from consuming nearly 5000 points of Divine Power, but his heart was filled with the joy of harvest. The first actual combat use of the Spirit Disturbing Formation had unexpectedly good results. This proved that the path of combining Hundred Schools of Thought with rules had infinite potential.

"It was just a preliminary attempt," he said modestly, though the light of confidence in his eyes was hard to hide. "Next, there are even stronger opponents waiting for us. Keep coordinating, keep preparing."

The Hundred Schools Squad stepped proudly into the top sixteen. Their names began to truly attract the attention of those top powerhouse teams.