The test takers refused to believe what they were seeing and continued to rush forward one after another to deliver their heads on a silver platter.
In the blink of an eye, seven or eight divine artifacts had entered the umbrella.
The test takers on the field finally went quiet and behaved themselves.
[That umbrella… isn’t it a bit too broken?]
[The halberd is gone, the hammer is gone, the spear is gone… everything is gone…]
[This umbrella makes no sense! Who plays like this?!]
[My Mjolnir was forged by the King of Dwarves! How is this possible?]
[Is China insane?]
[Yamata no Orochi above… this must be an illusion… my mirror!]
[Lord… why can Your Holy Light not defeat an umbrella?]
Su Fu quietly took out a handful of melon seeds and started snacking in the rear.
‘Tsk tsk, they really are bad at the game but love to play.’
The Hunyuan Umbrella was an existence that could even take away Nezha’s Universe Ring and Jinzha’s Dragon-Subduing Post.
How powerful was the Universe Ring?
It was a Chan Sect artifact bestowed upon Taiyi Zhenren by Yuanshi Tianzun—a gift from a Sage!
The Dragon-Subduing Post was equally extraordinary, being the primary treasure of Manjusri Guangfa Tianzun, one of the Twelve Immortals of the Chan Sect.
If such powerful artifacts could be swept away by the Hunyuan Umbrella, did these flashy divine artifacts really think they could escape?
They were dreaming!
The Hunyuan Umbrella could be called the strongest early-game AOE artifact.
Once it was deployed, it harvested the entire field.
Who could stop it?
As she watched the Hunyuan Umbrella pull all the artifacts on the field into its depths, Su Fu pinched her fingers to calculate.
She nodded with a look of great importance.
‘This treasure… has a fate with me!’
In the original story, Yang Jian used the Seventy-Two Transformations of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art to infiltrate the Shang camp and steal the Hunyuan Umbrella.
Only then was the Xiqi army able to resolve the crisis.
And now… hehe, Su Fu felt that this method was excellent!
She glanced at the Great Desolation Channel, where announcements were refreshing frantically.
[Test taker Felk Houston attempted to counter Mo Lihong’s Hunyuan Umbrella with Mjolnir. Failure! The artifact has been seized!]
[Test taker Casey Booker attempted to counter Mo Lihong’s Hunyuan Umbrella with the Sea God’s Trident. Failure! The artifact has been seized!]
The failures of the test takers were all being broadcasted one by one without exception.
It was a literal public execution.
In the channel, those who weren’t on the battlefield began to mock them shamelessly: [Your divine artifacts aren’t all that, are they? How did they all get taken?! Hahaha!]
[Hahaha, this is killing me! You dare to talk big with such pathetic strength?]
[I’m dying. Who was the one bragging about “settling the battle with one hammer” just now?]
[That’s it? That’s it? And you still dared to say you’d sweep through the Great Desolation?]
The defeated test takers were furious, but they refused to admit they were inferior.
[You guys who aren’t on the battlefield should shut up! If you’re so capable, come try it yourselves!]
[This is unreasonable! This absolutely violates the rules! This is a complete BUG!]
[You have no idea how twisted that umbrella is! It completely ignores the laws of physics!]
[Run, brothers! These four people aren’t right! They must be top-tier Chinese deities!]
[Retreat, retreat!]
For a moment, the channel was filled with wails of despair.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the artifacts of the Four Generals of the Mo Family swept through the Zhou army, causing the soldiers to scatter in a rout.
Seeing this, Jiang Ziya had no choice but to order the city gates closed for a defensive stance, temporarily avoiding the brunt of the attack.
Inside the Zhou army camp, morale was low, and the tents were filled with wounded soldiers.
Jiang Ziya quickly summoned his core generals for an emergency meeting.
He said in a heavy voice, “The artifacts of the Four Generals of the Mo Family are indeed troublesome. We must solve this problem first.”
Nezha was fuming, “My Universe Ring is still in that damn umbrella! How about I just charge in and take it back?”
Yang Jian looked thoughtful and said, “There is no need for a head-on confrontation. I have a plan. I can use the Transformation Technique to infiltrate the enemy camp and retrieve the Hunyuan Umbrella.”
Everyone felt that this plan was brilliant!
Su Fu looked at the situation on the battlefield and calculated in her heart, ‘Next, it should be Yang Jian’s turn to act.’
Speaking of Yang Jian’s Eight-Nine Arcane Art, it was truly powerful.
Not only could he transform into thousands of forms, but he could also cast Fatian Xiangdi.
In addition to that, his primordial spirit was indestructible, his body was immortal, and he possessed infinite resurrection!
Even if he were cut into eight pieces, he could recover.
It was the strongest survival technique of the Chan Sect.
It involved the cultivation of the physical body, primordial spirit, and spells—essentially having no weaknesses.
It could be called the ultimate all-rounder technique of the Daoist school.
He was a perfect hexagon warrior.
Invincible!
Meanwhile, the test takers in the channel were still howling:
[I feel like something is wrong. This is only the first battle! Why is it already this hard?]
[The Four Generals are too much! The Hunyuan Umbrella takes artifacts, the Cloud-Seizing Sword cuts off heads, the Jadeite Pipa shocks the soul, and the Flower Fox Marten wreaks havoc everywhere… how are we supposed to play?]
[Who can tell me how to deal with these four monsters?]
Su Fu thought to herself, ‘They’re already crying about the difficulty? My friends, the real difficulty is yet to come.’
Once these four were killed, the next one would be Wen Zhong himself.
Wen Zhong, the Grand Preceptor of the Shang Dynasty, was a direct disciple of the Golden Spirit Mother of the Sect of Interception.
His mount was the Black Kirin, the Heavenly Eye between his brows could see through all illusions, and his dual Male and Female whips possessed infinite power.
Most importantly, he had massive connections within the Sect of Interception.
With one call, he could bring the Ten Heavenly Lords to set up the Ten Absolute Formations.
At that point, the war would truly enter the “Gods fighting” phase.
Once the Ten Absolute Formations were deployed, the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect would descend as a group, with Randeng Daoren, the deputy leader of the Chan Sect, serving as the commander-in-chief.
The war would jump from mortal generals brawling to Golden Immortals blasting each other.
The difficulty wouldn’t just increase by a little bit.
And after six of the Ten Absolute Formations were broken, Zhaogongming would make his formal entrance.
That was when the plan she had set would be ready for harvest.
As for now… Su Fu looked outside.
The sky had gradually darkened.
Night had fallen, the perfect time for action.
Her “fated item” was waiting for her.
While she didn’t have Yang Jian’s Eight-Nine Arcane Art, she did have the Seventy-Two Transformations of the Great Sage.
The Seventy-Two Transformations were free and unrestrained.
Infiltrating the enemy camp to steal an artifact was more than enough.
Su Fu’s body flickered as she transformed into a small flying insect and flew toward the Shang army camp.
She had already used her sparrows to scout the location of the Hunyuan Umbrella, so she successfully used the night wind to quietly slip into the tent of the Four Generals.
Mo Lihong was snoring like thunder, clearly exhausted from the day’s battle.
The Hunyuan Umbrella was locked inside a treasure box deep within the tent, protected by several restrictions.
But for Su Fu, who possessed Nuwa’s [Patch the Sky: Restoration] authority, which was the power of a Sage of this world, picking a lock was effortless.
She opened the treasure box, and the Hunyuan Umbrella lay quietly inside.
“Got it~”
Su Fu thought to herself, ‘Stealing the umbrella is easy, but cleaning up the aftermath is hard.’
Without the Hunyuan Umbrella, what would Yang Jian do when he arrived?
Moreover, she definitely couldn’t touch things like Nezha’s Universe Ring or Jinzha’s Dragon-Subduing Post.
As third-generation disciples of the Chan Sect, they had real, powerful backers.
If those items went missing, those protective fellows from the Chan Sect would surely investigate thoroughly, and it might even involve the Sages.
So, she couldn’t take those.
But the Hunyuan Umbrella was different.
As long as she could make it disappear so that the Xiqi night raid could proceed smoothly and secure a victory, it would be fine.
As for where it went?
In the original story, it never appeared again anyway, which meant the Sages didn’t care about it at all.
That made it safe to take.
Su Fu already had a plan.
She activated her Heavenly Technique: [God of Wealth: Treasure Basin]!
With a flash of golden light, an identical replica of the umbrella appeared beside the original.
This was a technique she had obtained in the God of Wealth dungeon; it could replicate any divine artifact, with the duration determined by her Divine Power.
At the very least, it would definitely last through the night.
As for what happened after tonight, it didn’t matter.
As long as Yang Jian could take away the artifacts belonging to Nezha and the others, who would care if the Hunyuan Umbrella still existed?
Su Fu quickly tucked the real Hunyuan Umbrella away, trading it to Shen Yan for storage as usual.
She then placed the fake umbrella boldly on the table, surrounded by the captured artifacts: Nezha’s Universe Ring, Jinzha’s Dragon-Subduing Post, and the Nordic test taker’s Mjolnir…
It looked like an exhibition.
Since she was already here, she figured she’d save Yang Jian the extra effort.
Having finished this, she nodded in satisfaction and slipped out again in her insect form.
Sure enough, not long after she flew out of the tent, a figure silently appeared inside.
Yang Jian had thought it would take some effort to steal the umbrella, but as soon as he entered the tent, he saw the Hunyuan Umbrella sitting brazenly on the table with the other artifacts scattered around it.
Yang Jian: “…”
‘Is it really this simple?’
His brow furrowed, and his Heavenly Eye cautiously scanned the surroundings.
Once he confirmed there were no traps, he snatched the umbrella, gathered the artifacts, and fled.
In the distance, a sparrow tilted its head slightly.
Su Fu was satisfied.
“It’s settled. The fall guy has taken his place.”
Inside the Xiqi military camp, Jiang Ziya, Nezha, and the others were gathered, anxiously waiting for news.
“Junior Brother is back!” Muzha was sharp-eyed and the first to spot Yang Jian’s figure.
Yang Jian strode into the tent and placed the Hunyuan Umbrella on the table, “I have fortunately not failed my mission. I have retrieved the Hunyuan Umbrella from the Four Generals.”
“Excellent!” Jiang Ziya was overjoyed, “As expected of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art. Such transformation techniques are truly exquisite!”
Nezha couldn’t wait and grabbed the Hunyuan Umbrella by saying, “My ring!!”
He gave the Hunyuan Umbrella a light shake, and sure enough, the Universe Ring, the Dragon-Subduing Post, and other artifacts flew out of the umbrella, returning to their respective owners.
Jinzha gripped his recovered Dragon-Subduing Post.
“Junior Brother, your skills are impressive!”
Yang Jian: “…Actually, I didn’t do much. When I infiltrated, it was just sitting on the table.”
Everyone: “You’re too modest.”
Yang Jian: “…”
‘Wait, the expressions on your faces clearly say you don’t believe me!’
Regardless, Jiang Ziya stroked his beard and smiled, “Now that the Four Generals have lost the Hunyuan Umbrella, they shall surely be defeated today!”
At the same time, Su Fu tested the genuine Hunyuan Umbrella inside her Hundred Grasses Hall tent.
With a gentle shake, all the artifacts were pulled inside.
“Not bad, not bad.”
“Until I get the Coin of Falling Treasures, the task of battlefield collection will rely on you.”
With the matter perfectly resolved, Su Fu had a wonderful sleep.
By the time she woke up the next morning, the Xiqi camp was already in a state of jubilation.
“A great victory! A great victory!”
“The night raid was a total success! Zhang Guifang committed suicide! The Four Generals of the Mo Family were utterly defeated and fled!”
The soldiers in the camp were cheering and dancing with joy; morale was at an all-time high.
Jiang Ziya decided to hold a banquet in the army to reward the troops.
Su Fu stretched and thought, ‘A massive victory for the night raid? Expected. After all, even if the “Hunyuan Umbrella” Yang Jian stole was a fake, the Shang army’s artifact suppression failed. It would be strange if Xiqi didn’t win.’
With Zhang Guifang defeated and dead, it was time for Wen Zhong’s personal campaign.
She opened the Great Desolation Channel, and sure enough, she saw the latest updates:
[The Shang commander Zhang Guifang has died in battle! The Four Generals are heavily wounded and on the run! Xiqi has secured a massive victory!]
[Grand Preceptor Wen is enraged and is personally leading his army to conquer Xiqi!]
Once Grand Preceptor Wen arrived and opened the Ten Absolute Formations, the Twelve Golden Immortals would have to step onto the field.
This was a high-end game.
The point was, once they arrived, a lot of treasures would follow.