Unintended Immortality

Chapter 279: Phantom Trace and Strategies to Defeat the Enemy

“Mr. Song, there’s something you may not know...”

Advisor Zhang leaned closer to Song You and whispered, “The enemy we’re facing is the eastern eight tribes of the grasslands, under the command of the northern Right Wolf King. Among his subordinates is a strategist who has a peculiar hobby—he enjoys collecting severed hands, feet, skulls, or other body parts from his enemies as trophies and often plays with them.

“Previously, we devised a meticulous plan and sent a pair of Mr. Yin’s ears to his tent.”

“Does that mean the movements of the northern Right Wolf King’s army are entirely under your control?” Song You asked.

“It’s not quite that effective,” Advisor Zhang replied. “First, since the ears are in that strategist’s tent, we can only hear what’s said within it. Most of the time, important discussions among the army of the northern frontier take place in the Right Wolf King’s main tent, and this strategist is only one of many under the Wolf King.

“Second, the ears are usually kept in a box. Whether or not we can hear anything clearly depends entirely on chance.”

“I see.”

“Still, any bit of information we can gather is something. It’s better than nothing,” Advisor Zhang added.

“Indeed,” Song You agreed, falling silent as he turned his attention to Yin Wenxing.

He had moved to a corner of the training hall, hands covering his ears and bending slightly as he listened intently. After a while, his voice came through, “They’re discussing Mr. Song...”

“Who’s discussing him? And what are they saying about him?” Advisor Zhang immediately leaned in and asked in a hushed tone.

“The Right Wolf King’s other strategist went to speak with him. They mentioned the stone giant from this afternoon and speculated that a powerful cultivator had come to aid our army...”

“And what else?”

“I couldn’t hear clearly. The ears are kept in a box, so the sound is muffled and unclear. They were also walking around while talking.”

“Focus and listen carefully,” Advisor Zhang instructed.

Everyone present fell silent again, not daring to speak. For a moment, the training hall was so quiet that even the sound of a pin dropping could be heard.

The atmosphere felt remarkably strange to Song You.

The Lady Calico also widened her eyes, her pupils darting left and right in curiosity. Even a child would find such a scene fascinating.

After a while, Yin Wenxing’s voice came through again, “It seems they’re planning to send that elusive demon into the city to test Mr. Song.”

“A nighttime attack on Mr. Song?”

“It seems so... Ah, no, wait!”

“What is it?”

“They’re planning to let the demon in to cause some chaos and secretly observe what Mr. Song looks like and what abilities he has.”

“Keep listening.”

“They’ve left the main tent...” Yin Wenxing removed his hands from his ears, indicating that he could no longer hear anything.

The group collectively exhaled, as if they had only just begun breathing again.

General Chen broke the silence, saying, “If that demon comes for Mr. Song, that would actually be a simple matter.”

“What kind of demon is it?” Song You asked.

“It’s a demon in the northern frontier known as 'Bolai.' We’re not sure of its origins,” General Chen explained. “As for how strong Bolai is, it’s not particularly formidable. It’s just unusually strong and has claws sharp enough to disembowel someone.

“The officers in the army skilled at breaking through enemy formations might not be able to defeat him barehanded, but if fully armored and equipped with suitable weapons, they wouldn’t necessarily fear him either.

“However, this Bolai possessed an almost supernatural ability to appear and vanish unpredictably. His movements were swift, making it impossible to know where he would emerge or disappear next, leaving others unable to guard against him.”

“Bolai has been a huge headache for us,” Advisor Zhang added with a sigh. “Many of our officers have died at its hands in their dreams, and the deaths are always horrific. On top of that, it has brought plagues or other demonic curses into the city. Even now, many officers and soldiers are suffering from the diseases it spread.

“These days, no one dares sleep deeply; they have to take turns standing watch. Even so, there are still occasional casualties. Whenever it kills, it uses the victim’s own weapon to pin them to the ground. Sometimes it even tears off pieces to devour. Its cruelty has left the entire city in terror.”

Such was the power of a demon on the battlefield.

Even a demon with unremarkable combat strength possesses abilities utterly distinct from those of ordinary humans, often capable of performing terrifying acts. The psychological impact such creatures have on soldiers can rival that of an approaching great enemy army.

After listening, Song You thought for a moment before asking, “Could it be Wall-Passing Technique or Earth-Burrowing Method?”

To reach a higher level of mastery? A single lifetime would likely prove too short.

At present, only demons and spirits might still possess the capability to practice such techniques.

However, this was merely because the shift in the Heavenly Dao had only recently begun. Human cultivators, being the most prosperous, were the first to face its effects, while the turn for spirits and demons had yet to fully come—they were still waiting in line, so to speak.

At that moment, Song You continued, “This Phantom Trace technique is a legitimate Daoist art from ancient Great Yan. But as the general mentioned, these demons all seem to have emerged from Zhaoye City. As for the deity originally occupying Zhaoye City, it was a god once worshipped by one of the southern tribes of the eighteen tribes in the northern grassland. Why would this deity be in Zhaoye City?”

“It’s possible that demons and ghosts have no allegiance to nations or tribes. This Bolai might have originally been a demon within Great Yan’s northern borders but was drawn to Zhaoye City by the demon king’s call,” Advisor Zhang speculated.

“That’s certainly possible.”

“Sir, do you have a method to counter it?” Advisor Zhang’s concern clearly focused on this point.

“Of course.”

Everyone turned their eyes to Song You, who remained calm and composed, exuding confidence.

“What you may not know is that Phantom Trace, while seemingly impressive and allowing travel with a mere thought, actually comes with significant limitations. If these limitations are unknown, they are of little concern. But once someone understands them, it becomes easy to target and disrupt the technique.”

“Please enlighten us!”

Upon hearing this, Advisor Zhang immediately cupped his hands in salute.

“Advisor, have you ever read ancient texts or stories about divine immortals vanishing into thin air?” Song You asked.

“Is that also Phantom Trace?”

“Whether divine immortals practice Phantom Trace, I cannot say,” Song You replied, “but the ability described in those stories is indeed based on Phantom Trace. It seems the tone was set in ancient times—later generations saw how the old stories depicted it and followed the same pattern.”

“Naturally, I've read such accounts.”

“Then, have you all noticed that in those stories, when immortals vanish after interacting with mortals, it usually happens when the mortals are momentarily distracted—perhaps their gaze shifts, their attention wanders, or the immortal walks behind a tree that can obscure their figure, or a sudden puff of smoke arises, and only then do they disappear?”

“...”

Everyone’s eyes widened as they seemed to recall something and began to ponder.

“Now that you mention it, that does seem to be the case!” someone exclaimed.

“Have you ever considered why this is so?” Song You continued. “Do you think it’s merely to add an air of mystery?”

“Is there more to it?”

“Phantom Trace relies on freedom to achieve its seamless effect. From the moment one begins practicing it, one must remain in isolation, secluded in a cave, cut off from the world. Isolation is freedom, and freedom is key to the technique. Being observed by others disrupts that freedom,” Song You explained slowly. “If someone is watching, the technique loses its fluidity—it’s no longer truly free.”

“...”

The crowd fell silent, deep in thought.

Everyone’s eyes widened once again. Such an advanced technique, and yet it had such a glaring weakness?

They exchanged glances, finding it hard to believe, but Song You’s calm and matter-of-fact explanation left them with no choice but to accept it.

For a moment, it all seemed impossibly profound.

“The records in my temple’s library state that this technique must be cultivated to its absolute peak to allow one to vanish under the scrutiny of countless eyes. However, the texts also note that even if one could achieve the level of traveling the ends of the earth in a single thought, it would still fall short of that ultimate freedom.

“Thus, in ancient times, practitioners of this art had to be extremely cautious. They usually operated at night and often practiced supplementary techniques to aid in concealment and misdirection, to avoid having their method disrupted,” Song You explained.

He added, “Whether these supplementary methods are effective depends on the skill levels of both sides—one attacking, the other countering. As for how this works in modern times, or how effective this particular demon’s methods are, I cannot say.”

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“But in Yuanzhi City, the highest point is the city walls. Even so, the city is complex. Looking down from the walls, there are still many blind spots. What’s more, as you said, those who practice this technique often cultivate concealment or misdirection methods.

“Demons, in particular, excel in creating obscuring mists. Even if we station people along the walls or have guards posted everywhere, it would be very difficult to pierce through their illusions and break the technique.”

“Phantom Trace may enable movement with a single thought, and I cannot stop it directly. However, I can offer a method to assist you all in countering it,” Song You replied.

“And how would you defeat this enemy, sir?”

“Bring me ink, brushes, paper, inkstone, and cinnabar,” Song You said, waving his sleeve.