He took a deep breath and crushed one by one the trump cards he had painstakingly crafted over countless years.
But then, nine goddesses, nine demon-subduing Vajras, and six Li Shutongs appeared in the cave.
The elder looked at the six Li Shutongs and felt his cavities start to ache...
He asked, puzzled, "Why are you painting so many identical goddesses and demon-quelling warriors? Don't the Chen family painters all like to paint different ones?"
Da Yu glanced at him and said, "Paintings are for fighting. Painting the same character will naturally lead to proficiency and higher efficiency. The Goddess is for aerial combat, and the Demon-Subduing Vajra is for ground combat, that's enough. It takes a lot of time for a Chen family painter to create a painting. In terms of combat efficiency, it's most reasonable to specialize in a few characters. I'm not like other Chen family painters, they're too pretentious. They kill with their paintings while claiming they're pursuing art."
The elder was even more puzzled: "Goddess is for the sky, Vajra is for the earth, then what is Li Shutong for?"
Da Yu glanced at him again: "It's used to scare off the enemy at crucial moments."
The elder was stunned for a moment. He imagined that he was in the middle of a battle when suddenly Li Shutong jumped out and punched him. It was indeed quite scary, much scarier than the goddess and the demon-subduing Vajra.
After all, the goddess and the Vajra are mythological figures. You know they're not real; you only need to judge their fighting power based on the artist's skill level.
But then Li Shutong suddenly appeared, and that changed everything... He was a living demigod.
At this moment, Zard exclaimed from the side, "Nine goddesses and demon-slaying warriors! Why don't you combine them into a three-star goddess and a three-star demon-slaying warrior? That would be even more powerful! More health and higher attack!"
Da Yu: "???"
Are you playing Teamfight Tactics here?!
What the hell?! Nine ordinary goddesses combined into one three-star goddess!
Da Yu ignored them and in the blink of an eye sent out all the gods, Buddhas, and Li Shutong, dividing them into 6 groups of 4 people each, with 6 Li Shutongs as group leaders, each leading a team to search the forbidden land.
This time, it wasn't the Chen Group Army chasing them; it was him hunting down the entire group!
Zard carefully wrapped all the painting fragments in the shroud, waiting patiently for the right moment: "So all we have to do is sit here? Big brother, could you draw me next time? I'm really good at it too."
Da Yu sat cross-legged behind the waterfall with his eyes closed: "If you become a demigod, I'll draw you."
...
...
In Forbidden Land No. 008, a regimental-level force of 1,500 men is on orders to traverse the area.
The Chen family's reinforcements have arrived. Chen Yu not only wants the secret to becoming a god below the cave, but also wants to establish an advance base on the west side of Forbidden Land No. 008 and plunder the fire pit.
However, just six hours after they entered the area, a commotion suddenly broke out at the back of the group.
The troops in front turned around and saw two demon-slaying warriors and a goddess appear behind them. Led by 'Li Shutong', they began to slaughter Chen's soldiers without mercy.
This A-grade painting is impervious to blades and bullets. Unless it is hit by heavy fire from a single soldier or attacked by hundreds of people at the same time, it is practically an incarnation of immortality.
At first, the Chen family painters hidden within the army group were shocked. How could Li Shutong be using their family's paintings of gods and Buddhas to kill people?!
But he quickly realized that this was not the real Li Shutong, but Chen Ningzhi's little brat helping the fire pit!
The painter Chen coldly commanded from within the ranks: "They're just four A-grade paintings. Abandon the soldiers being engaged by them and bombard them with individual thermobaric bombs!"
The regimental commander was taken aback: "There are hundreds of soldiers around them. If the thermobaric bomb is launched, they will all die."
The painter Chen gave him a cold look: "Isn't it worth it to exchange the lives of hundreds of people for four paintings by an A-level painter?"
The leader tried one last time: "Could we use your paintings to kill them?"
The painter Chen gave him a cold look: "Do you know how precious an A-grade painting is? If something can be fixed with ordinary soldiers, don't make me do it."
The Chen family painters held a rather special position in the military.
They have no military rank or official position, but they are the pillars of the army, subtly controlling the troops in a role similar to "supervisors".
The troupe leader must obey the artist's orders.
The regimental commander gritted his teeth and gave the order to his troops: "Abandon those soldiers, immediately isolate them in a safe zone, ignore the casualties of your comrades, and directly bombard them with fire!"
As they spoke, individual missiles were fired, instantly killing Li Shutong, a goddess, and two Vajra warriors.
The Chen family painter in the army sneered, "The little brat from Chen Ningzhi's family seems to have no combat experience. He's using his paintings so crudely, giving us an opportunity to focus our fire."
However, at that moment, another team of Li Shutong, Goddess, and Demon-Slaying Vajra suddenly appeared from the 11 o'clock direction.
But the four gods and Buddhas in the painting charged forward with unparalleled ferocity, seemingly unconcerned about being targeted by the enemy.
In just five minutes, more than two hundred Chen soldiers were ruthlessly slaughtered.
Genetically modified soldiers rushed to stop them, but were killed in one round.
The Chen family painters were starting to get a little confused. Normally, it would take them three months to complete a single painting, and if they wanted to fight an enemy of the same level, they would need to prepare for three months.
Therefore, they were very careful when using the paintings, wishing they could split a goddess in two to use her.
As a result, Chen Ningzhi's little brats, as if they were free, sent out eight of them all at once.
The painter Chen said coldly, "Let's use the same strategy as before and blast them."
As soon as he finished speaking, he ignored the commander and picked up the satellite phone to connect to the Class A airship where Chen Yu was: "Boss, that kid from Chen Ningzhi's family has made his move, producing eight Class A paintings in one go."
Inside the Class A airship, Chen Yu was still applying color to the fire god Zhurong. He calmly asked, "Can't you deal with him?"
The painter, surnamed Chen, was taken aback for a moment: "All I can do is let you know."
Chen Yu said calmly, "The Chen family painter has started helping outsiders. This person cannot be allowed to live. Now the family head's faction wants him to advance to demigod so that he can replace me. You should know what you need to do. Don't be too stingy with the paintings you have. Find him and kill him."
Inside the airship, Chen Yu continued painting calmly. After a moment's thought, he opened the air force's communication channel: "Other painters need to hurry. You must complete your new paintings before the Zhutian Sky Fortress arrives. Qing Chen has the ability to generate electromagnetic pulses, so drones can't explore the caves. We'll have to rely on you."
On another Class B airship, five painters were spreading out canvases in the ship's hold. They were not painting gods or Buddhas, but rather the "Five Bats Approaching the Door" painting, which was also a painting often used by the Chen family for reconnaissance.
There's no need to draw them too meticulously; these bats aren't tasked with fighting, but rather with exploring underground caverns.
...
...
On the battlefield, after hanging up the phone, the Chen family painter watched as another wave of Da Yu's paintings were destroyed, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "Search in the direction they came from... How come they're here again!?"
The painter Chen stared in disbelief as yet another Li Shutong led a team to attack. Before he could even react, another Li Shutong led a team to attack from another direction.
Not only that, at the 11 o'clock position, where the painting had just been destroyed, another Li Shutong rushed out.
This isn't over yet...
All the Great Feather paintings scattered throughout the forbidden lands are converging here.
Moreover, these paintings just rushed out in a chaotic manner, without any sophisticated multi-pronged approach.
It's not that Da Yu doesn't cherish his paintings. In a normal battle, he would be very careful and break the paintings down into individual units for individual combat, instead of charging in squads like he is now...
However, the problem is that Da Yu has never fought such a rich battle before.
Therefore, Da Yu had never controlled so many paintings before, and he was a bit overwhelmed, so he could only brute force his way through...
Let alone him, even Qing Chen probably couldn't control 24 paintings at the same time to complete an exquisite battle. Even Shindai Yunluo, who is known for his extreme control, can only make good use of six shikigami.
The current situation is that Chen, the painter in the army group, mocks Da Yu for his lack of artistic skill, while Da Yu mocks the other party for his poverty.
Honestly, with the 1-hour cooldown in Infinite Firepower mode, you don't need to think at all; just push the base.
There's only one thing you need to be careful about: don't let them find your true form.
"This brat has wasted years of his youth on the fire pit. Has the fire pit bewitched him? Quickly request reinforcements!" The Chen family painter was extremely anxious.
All of this means that... ordinary soldiers alone cannot stop Da Yu; he must take action!
Recalling Chen Yu's cold tone, the painter Chen reluctantly took out six paintings from his backpack and snarled, "You think you're the only one with paintings?!"
As he spoke, he crushed all six paintings, and six gods and Buddhas rushed out under his control, engaging in a fierce battle with the paintings led by Li Shutong.
But, the moment he appeared.
All the paintings controlled by Da Yu ceased their entanglement with the soldiers. Instead, more than a dozen goddesses, demon-subduing Vajras, and Li Shutong joined forces to firmly surround the six deities and Buddhas depicted by the Chen family painter.
But then they saw one of Li Shutongs use even more wild, unorthodox punches, his arms waving around with a buzzing sound.
The six arms of the Vajra Demon-Subduing Warrior also twirled like wheels of fire.
The six paintings by the painter Chen were crammed together in the middle, and his head was slapped repeatedly.
Although the fighting style was a bit rough, Da Yu had a lot of paintings. In just a few minutes, he squeezed all of Chen's paintings of gods and Buddhas together and gave them a good beating.
At this moment, when the painter Chen saw Li Shutong in his white training uniform, his head and eyes ached!
Why are there so many Li Shutongs?!
He tried to manipulate the gods and Buddhas under his command to rebel, but six were no match for sixteen...
Moreover, when Li Shutong and the Demon-Subduing Vajra ganged up on the six gods and Buddhas, they could also take the nearby Chen soldiers along with them. The Demon-Subduing Vajra wielded his Vajra pestle as if it were free, smashing it directly into the crowd.
This thing is like a kinetic energy projectile; one strike can kill more than ten soldiers.
The painter Chen roared at the troupe leader, "Use firepower to bombard them all!"
The team immediately gave the order, and in an instant, cannons roared, completely covering all of Chen's and Da Yu's paintings.
Although the painter Chen felt a pang of heartache, he also breathed a sigh of relief. He said with a ferocious grin, "Deploy all the mechanical hunting dogs and all the drones! Find out where he's hiding! Observe the tracks in the woods; I need to know where these paintings came from!"
In less than half an hour, his field regiment was reduced to just over three hundred men.
It was a truly tragic scene.
However, the painter Chen didn't care. He sneered and said, "This brat has probably used up all his paintings. It seems no one taught him that a painter's trump cards shouldn't be revealed easily. Does he think he's Chen Xuanwu, gambling away his entire life's worth of paintings? Naïve and foolish!"
The regimental commander whispered to him, "We only have a little over three hundred people left. Should we request reinforcements first?"
The painter Chen pondered that he had barely managed to end the battle after losing six paintings. If he called for reinforcements now, wouldn't the peaches be picked by someone else?
His expression became uncertain.
However, the guild leader whispered, "The Forbidden Land isn't just home to that brat Chen Yu; there's also an Earth Elemental Awakener, the Fire Pit Elder, Qing Chen..."
The painter Chen suddenly remembered this and hurriedly said, "Report to the higher-ups immediately. We have annihilated all twenty-four of Chen Yu's paintings and are currently searching for his whereabouts. Have the field brigade move closer. Remember, be sure to report the results clearly."
Soon, Chen's army group found the trail: broken branches of bushes in the woods.
Following these clues, Chen's troops found a soldier who needed to relieve himself and went to urinate in a nearby bush.
As he was trembling, he suddenly felt something was wrong. He looked up and was shocked to see six Li Shutongs staring at him expressionlessly...
The soldier trembled violently, and before he could even shout, a goddess behind him gagged him with a red ribbon.
Now that the number of goddesses and Uncle Li has increased, they no longer resemble lofty deities, but rather like thieving bandits...
The painter Chen, hidden among the group, whispered to the leader, "Chen Yu has probably run out of paintings. If a battle breaks out later, you cover me as I assassinate Qing Chen and Elder Huotang. If this succeeds, my status within the family will definitely rise, and I won't forget you then... Holy crap!"