The Empress's No.1 Lackey

The backyard of the government office.

Zhao Douan left the "battle command center" and arrived at the courtyard in the back to rest.

After dismissing everyone, he did not enter the room but sat in a small stone pavilion, slightly closed his eyes, calmed his emotions, and summoned Pei Niannu in his mind:

"Senior, with my current cultivation, if I give you all my power to activate the Mystic Turtle Seal, how much distance can it cover? Hmm, if we add Ji Yue, can the two of us summon a rainstorm covering at least one county in a short time?"

Thin red silk threads separated from his body and spread outward.

On the empty space opposite the stone pavilion, an ancient woman wearing a wedding dress and a dark gold mask appeared, undetectable by outsiders.

She was Pei Niannu from the "Six Chapters Scripture," who looked at him coldly and shook her head: "No… possibility."

She sneered: "You think… worldly cultivators… are that strong? Moreover… your qi mechanism, converted to mana, also suffers loss…"

Zhao Douan felt a bit disappointed but was not surprised.

During the battle at Baihua Village, it was only when Zhenbao advanced to the Heavenly Human Realm that he could affect the celestial phenomena within ten miles.

He had only progressed less than halfway through the Worldly Realm, far from reaching the level where the world resonates at a mere gesture.

When he fought Prince Heng at the Qingzhou border, both went all out, yet the water and fire domains only covered a small area.

"What… do you… want to do?" Pei Niannu asked intermittently, showing a degree of curiosity.

After Zhao Douan's promotion, Pei Niannu, who had already died and was somehow surviving in the painting as an "ancient person," became increasingly lively.

Zhao Douan shook his head and explained the rebel army's plans to burn the city: "I am thinking, if it comes to the worst, perhaps using the Water God's power could summon rain to extinguish the fire."

"Save the world… save the people?" Pei Niannu's silver eyes beneath the mask wavered slightly and suddenly said: "There is indeed a way…"

Zhao Douan raised his eyebrows, and then, in the female sorcerer's slow, stuttering explanation, he learned a scheme.

According to Pei Niannu, Zhao Douan's current cultivation can't support manipulating the celestial phenomena, but if mana is sufficiently abundant, exceeding the Worldly Realm, it might be briefly possible.

"Senior means the Water and Fire Gods, both within the Five Elements, mutually counter and can transform? And I happen to possess the Red Flame Saint Armor, this armor can accumulate mana massively through arrays, treating it as an 'external Qi Sea'? Equally expanding the mana I can call upon?"

Zhao Douan was astonished by the proposal; in plain terms, it was treating the Red Flame Saint Armor as a "power bank," using arrays to transfer the mana stored in the armor into Zhao Douan's Qi Sea, joining his own power and jointly controlling the Mystic Turtle Seal.

"Is this feasible? Even if the mana is abundant, limited by my personal realm, it just extends the time I can cast spells, right? There's no logic that expanding the Qi Sea would break through realm restrictions to use spells unable to be wielded at my current level, especially since I haven't successfully resonated with heaven and earth… wait!"

Zhao Douan analyzed, suddenly stunned, staring intently at the opposite Pei Niannu!

He was indeed only at the Worldly Realm, yet the female sorcerer in front of him had reached the peak period of the "Heavenly Human" over six hundred years ago!

In other words, Pei Niannu's understanding of cultivation touched the Heavenly Human Realm in theory; only due to lacking a body and living as a rootless spirit did she become someone enslaved in the painting.

But if Zhao Douan uses the Red Flame Saint Armor to enhance his body's mana capacity and "lends" his body to Pei Niannu, theoretically, it might break through Worldly Realm limitations to touch the Heavenly Human!

Even if it's a hastily cobbled-together "half-step Heavenly Human," temporarily activating the Mystic Turtle Seal should not be a major issue.

This situation is extremely special, considered a stroke of luck unlikely to replicate this plan.

After all, while there are methods to temporarily augment power, wishing to breach the Heavenly Human limit is sheer fanciful thinking.

"The child… can be taught." Pei Niannu nodded, the white chin under the mask slightly tilted up, appearing to regain a sense of teacherly dignity before the annoying younger generation.

Immediately, however, she splashed cold water: "But… this method involves water-fire transformation, with significant loss… currently, the armor… is insufficient."

Zhao Douan froze.

The mana stored in the Red Flame Saint Armor is still insufficient to support? Because it uses his Qi Sea as a "transition," there's conversion loss?

Therefore, to accomplish this scheme, he must find another batch of cultivation-related tools for refinement.

But before leaving the capital, a round of refining already used almost all of Zhao Douan's assets, leaving only a few frequently used items too precious to refine.

In a short time, where could he find a heap of treasures of low value to refine into armor?

"No other methods?" Zhao Douan furrowed his brow.

The dream-like bride sorceress before him shook her head and slowly vanished into the air.

Not answering and running away, what use are you to me… Zhao Douan felt annoyed and a bit frustrated, still sensing that the court lacked full assurance to reclaim lost territory.

If anything unforeseen occurs, once three days have passed, the rebel army could ignite the fire at any moment, and disasters would spiral out of control should cities within dozens of miles catch fire.

He cannot help but plan for the worst-case scenario.

Zhao Douan fell into contemplation, pondering other ways beyond this scheme to increase the odds of victory.