Chapter 63 The Assistant Enforcer of the Sword of Law
"The Taoism Method refers to bombardment and suppression through Taoist techniques; Swordsmanship involves attacking with Flying Swords and Sword Control Techniques; Assistant signifies augmenting one\'s own combat abilities using treasures, Talismans, Elixir Medicines, and other external aids; Enforcer is about controlling and commanding other external forces in battle, such as spiritual beasts, Poisonous Insects, Demons, ghosts, and so on."
"That\'s right, it\'s more or less like that," Yan Yu nodded. "So, you\'re here to ask which school is better to choose?"
"Yep," Chen Lingyun didn\'t bother hiding it. "The concept of these combat schools has already been assigned to an expert group for research."
"Although I don\'t know when we\'ll have a systematized theory of professions, in view of the current situation, which is likely to get increasingly worse, the higher-ups may have us make choices before the research is fully understood."
"What\'s on your mind, then?" Yan Yu asked her.
"I want to choose the Taoism Method," Chen Lingyun said straightforwardly.
"The Taoism Method isn\'t suitable for you," Yan Yu replied without hesitation.
"Oh? Why do you say that?" Chen Lingyun raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"The main combat method of the Taoism Method is Taoist techniques," Yan Yu said indifferently. "Among the four schools, Taoist techniques on average consume the most True Yuan."
"Your natural talent isn\'t high, and your total amount of True Yuan is relatively limited. If you insist on choosing the Taoism Method, when facing cultivators of the same realm, your disadvantage of insufficient True Yuan will be magnified manifold."
"What you\'re saying isn\'t wrong," Chen Lingyun was still smiling. "But having insufficient True Yuan isn\'t a fatal weakness, right? I can compensate with careful calculation and grasping the right timing."
"So what?" Yan Yu looked at her sidelong, replying with a cold laugh. "A cripple, no matter how fast he can run with the aid of a device, how can he compete on the same stage with a professional athlete? You\'re not looking for your strengths, but, instead, you want to strengthen your weaknesses and then insist on competing with others with your weakness.
Are you not used to being at a disadvantage, or is your head filled with water that you need to stuff some sanitary pads in it?"
In her previous life, as a Taoism Method practitioner acting from the rear with long-range attacks, Chen Lingyun\'s actual combat performance couldn\'t be considered bad; in fact, it was quite good. However, the issue of insufficient True Yuan frequently arose, like someone good at science who could score 290 points but chose humanities instead and got 250.
You couldn\'t say their results were poor, but when there was a better option available, why wouldn\'t you choose it?
"Then what school do you think I should choose?" Chen Lingyun asked with a smiling glint in her eye.
"Servant Envoy," Yan Yu answered without a moment\'s hesitation. "The Servant Envoy school, which involves controlling external entities, truly requires using one\'s brain in battle and can maximize your inherent strengths and advantages."
"But being a Servant Envoy requires having powerful \'Servant Envoys\' of your own," Chen Lingyun showed a troubled expression on purpose and said, "Beasts, insects, Demons, ghosts... I don\'t have any of these. What should I do? Maybe I should just start with the Taoism Method and then transition later."
"Transition to what?" Yan Yu\'s brows furrowed instantly. "If you start with one Taoist technique and later switch to, say, ghost control, could what you learned first and the ghost control connect? Can they form a clear strategy that complements weaknesses and enhances each other? If not, wouldn\'t that first Taoist technique be learned in vain?"
"Moreover, finding powerful \'Servant Envoys\' isn\'t that difficult. There\'s a saying: \'Southeast for spiritual beasts, southwest for insects, northeast for Demons, northwest for ghosts.\' If you want any type of \'Servant Envoys,\' just go to the corresponding Mysterious Realm and search..."
At this point, Yan Yu suddenly caught himself and his expression turned suspicious as he looked at Chen Lingyun:
"Are you trying to trick me?"
"Not at all," Chen Lingyun\'s smile was sweet.
"You were hoping I would give you advice," Yan Yu had his epiphany. "But you were also worried about being laughed at by me, so you pretended to be stubbornly wrong-headed, veering towards the incorrect direction, just to coax the right answer out of me!"
"Not at all," Chen Lingyun was still smiling. "Please don\'t let your imagination run wild with scenarios. I simply think that the Taoism Method practitioners, in terms of development potential and trendiness, are superior to the other three schools."
"Bullshit!" Yan Yu didn\'t sugarcoat his opinion. "A Sword Immortal thrusts forth alone, claiming lives amidst thousands of troops—isn\'t that trendy? An Assistant Officer brandishes a sword capable of killing immortals; a flash of silver and heads fall—isn\'t that trendy?
A Servant Envoy commands Demons and ghosts, riding clouds and mist, leaving a trail of corpses wherever the eerie wind passes—isn\'t that trendy?"
"You just keep thinking about that broken Taoism Method all day long, on one hand, you know quite well that you don\'t have much True Yuan and aren\'t suited to be a Taoism cultivator; on the other hand, you refuse to let go and come to me for advice.
If you really trusted me, you could be inquiring about the path of the Envoy now, and I guarantee you that would suit you better than being a Taoism cultivator."
"Hmm~" Chen Lingyun didn\'t express agreement or disagreement, but asked, "If I really choose to become an Envoy, what kind of servant should I choose?"
"Demons, of course." Yan Yu said without hesitation, "What about the other types, like controlling poisonous insects? Could you deal with that?"
"If it\'s colorful and gorgeous butterflies, I guess I could," Chen Lingyun said with a smile.
"See, I knew you were picky," Yan Yu revealed a \'just as I thought\' cold smile and then analyzed, "First of all, eliminate the option of using insects because you, as the young lady, can\'t stand bugs; second, eliminate using demons because the uglier the demon, the stronger its power. These two actually suit male cultivators better."
"Regarding beast tamers and ghost handlers, spirit beasts are difficult to raise and train, and they often fight amongst themselves. In actual combat, usually, only one or two beasts fight together, so they don\'t require much in terms of commanding skills; with your calculating nature, you are undoubtedly most suited to be a ghost handler.
Their methods of attack are tricky and changeable, allowing for collective or even group combat—this is the career that will let you play to your strengths the most."
"Hmm," Chen Lingyun pondered for a moment and said, "However, in traditional culture, ghosts are ultimately considered an ill omen, wouldn\'t being a ghost handler affect my public image?"
"What public image?" Yan Yu said with contemptuous disdain, "Public image is crap!"
"It\'s only people over fifty, the old men and women, who might consider such things as ghosts to be evil spirits and shun them; for the majority of young people today, strength is beauty, victory is cool. As long as you\'re consistently victorious, who would dare criticize your use of ghosts?
If there really are some who can\'t see clearly, call upon the people of Jianghai Prefecture to go online, and with one comment per person, they\'d take him down."
Having listened to Yan Yu\'s analysis, Chen Lingyun\'s smile returned, and she already had an answer in her heart.
She was of course aware that she wasn\'t suited for Taoism cultivation; the fact that her True Yuan was lacking was plain to see. But if not Taoism cultivation, then what?
Sword Immortals required quick reflexes on the spot, and Chen Lingyun was the type who preferred to strategize before taking action.
Like how she had been practicing the Shifting Technique for abrupt stops and positioning these past few days—if you let her calculate the distance from the wall, the speed, and the timing for the abrupt stop beforehand, she could get it almost right on the first try.
However, if a wall suddenly appeared while she was in the midst of using the Shifting Technique, she would most likely be unable to react in time.
If Sword Immortal wasn\'t an option, that left only Assistant Officer and Envoy.
An Assistant Officer relied on external items like magical artifacts, Talismans, and Elixir Medicine to enhance their own strength.
A large part of a cultivator\'s power depended on "how formidable the borrowed item was." Chen Lingyun\'s father did indeed intend for her to choose Assistant Officer, since in the future he could use his influence within the Zhendong Army to prioritize getting her a powerful magical artifact.
But Miss Chen despised any potential risk of failure and was even less inclined to gamble her future career on "when the military might find a good artifact."
The situation of an Envoy was between that of a Taoism cultivator and an Assistant Officer. On one hand, the rank of the servant directly determined the strength of the Envoy. Much like the base stats in Pokémon, if someone brought out a legendary Pokémon in battle, and you only had a caterpie, you would obviously lose.
On the other hand, an Envoy also needed to use secret arts to refine their servants, as well as research how to cooperate with the servants to execute various combined attack routines.
Therefore, among the four major paths, the Envoy was the most complex and troublesome combat style. To use Yan Yu\'s words, "It\'s the one that truly requires brains in battle."
After thinking it through thoroughly, Chen Lingyun didn\'t reveal her thoughts but merely smiled brightly at Yan Yu, curiously asking,
"Then what path do you plan to choose?"
"We\'ll see when the time comes." Yan Yu brushed it off, not intending to discuss this matter further with Chen Lingyun.
In fact, since he had cultivated the Silken Bond Technique with Zhao Yuanzhen, his choice of path had already been decided.
Even among the diverse category of Assistant Officers, it was a rare and special profession:
Puppet Master.