Upon hearing Su Qing's words, Chang'e immediately became displeased.
She crossed her arms and said with an air of pride, "What a joke! How could I possibly know that!"
Well, this woman certainly had a knack for saying incredibly frustrating things with a look of absolute pride. It was truly a unique talent.
Su Qing couldn't help but roll her eyes. Did this woman have no shame at all?
Apparently, she didn't.
Su Qing sighed and said, "The earth fire spirit veins beneath the Changbai Mountains wind for over a hundred miles. While that's not exceptionally long, trying to suppress them perfectly is extremely difficult. Moreover, I'm worried that fire veins aren't like spirit veins; they carry a certain level of danger. If the fire veins fluctuate or mutate during our suppression process... it could cause the disaster to happen prematurely and put a large number of mortals in danger. I've checked, and these earth fire spirit veins run beneath several surrounding counties. If something goes wrong..."
Su Qing didn't need to finish the sentence.
If she had explained it to this extent and Chang'e still didn't understand, it would be quite laughable. Su Qing fell silent and watched Chang'e's reaction.
Chang'e, of course, wasn't so foolish that she couldn't grasp the situation.
Her brow furrowed slightly. "Then what should we do? If suppression isn't an option, what method can solve this earth fire problem quickly?"
Su Qing rolled her eyes. "Sister Chang'e, didn't I bring you here to help find a solution? I was waiting for you to come up with something. Why are you asking me first?"
Chang'e's mouth twitched. "You... fine, fine. I won't argue with you. Let's go to your courtyard on the mountain first and discuss the solution there."
Su Qing glanced at Chang'e but said nothing more. With a thought, she urged the Somersault Cloud to fly toward the Changbai Mountains even faster.
Before long, Su Qing had brought Chang'e back to the mountains.
Once they arrived in the courtyard, Chang'e looked around and asked, "By the way, do you have a place here where I can observe the state of the earth fire? I plan to see the situation for myself before we discuss a plan."
Though Chang'e usually appeared flighty and unreliable, when her help was truly needed, she could settle down and assist diligently.
It was just that her tongue wasn't always the most pleasant.
Of course, if outsiders were present, she would present a completely different image.
Su Qing nodded. "Of course. The forging room over there has an earth fire array. You can commune with the earth fire from there."
"Your courtyard really has everything! Forging, alchemy... you have a setup for everything. You certainly dabble in a wide range of fields," Chang'e remarked with a bit of a jab.
"When you live as long as I have, you naturally want to learn a bit of everything," Su Qing said, spreading her hands. "One more skill is one more way to protect yourself. Anyway, didn't you want to sense the earth fire? Go on!"
Su Qing didn't want to waste time on idle chatter, so she practically pushed Chang'e toward the room.
Chang'e rolled her eyes. "Don't be in such a rush!"
She walked into the forging room as she spoke.
The earth fire array in the forging room was more powerful than the one in the alchemy room, making it the most suitable place to sense the state of the fire.
Like Su Qing had done before, Chang'e went to the center of the array, sat cross-legged, and formed a hand seal to draw out the fire and sense its condition.
After a brief moment of sensing, she found that the state of the earth fire was indeed as Su Qing had described—it was in quite a bad state.
However, while it was bad, it hadn't reached the true critical point yet.
This meant Su Qing still had some time to prepare and resolve the matter.
After finishing her assessment, Chang'e exhaled a long breath and walked out of the forging room.
"The situation is indeed as you said, quite unfavorable... but fortunately, there's still enough time." Chang'e sat down beside Su Qing and said, "As for how to solve it... after seeing it, I don't have any great ideas yet. The only thing I can think of is brute force."
"Brute force?" Su Qing was startled by the term. "What kind of brute force?"
"Well... this method is technically feasible, but actually executing it is very difficult," Chang'e said with a helpless smile.
"Don't start acting like you're reliable now. Just tell me what the method is. Even if it doesn't work in the end, at least it gives me a simple reference!" Su Qing said, rolling her eyes at the woman's attempt to be mysterious.
Chang'e scratched her head and explained, "It's actually a very simple method. Use a large number of array plates to deploy arrays at essential points, suppressing multiple locations simultaneously. That way, we can completely avoid the situation you were worried about."
"That is indeed a good method, and it certainly qualifies as brute force." Su Qing's mouth twitched as she nodded. "However, executing it is indeed troublesome! Given how vast the area is... to cover it all with array plates, I'm afraid the two of us won't be enough to handle it. And synchronization is also a difficult point..."
What Chang'e could think of, Su Qing naturally could as well, and she thought even more deeply about certain aspects.
"Exactly! I told you this method would be difficult to implement! You're the one who insisted I say it," Chang'e said, spreading her hands helplessly.
Su Qing glanced at her. "It is difficult, but not impossible... it just requires more people. As for the synchronization, that's not a huge issue... there's always a way. Besides, as long as the arrays aren't deployed too far apart in time, there shouldn't be any major problems."
Chang'e looked at Su Qing with curiosity. "You're not actually planning to use the method I just suggested, are you?"
"If the method is feasible, why wouldn't I use it?"
Su Qing looked at Chang'e strangely. "Even if it's a simple method and relies on brute force, it's actually workable and is the only method we've found so far! It would be a waste not to use it... besides, even if there were a better way, we haven't thought of it yet. If there's a way, use it first."
Su Qing wasn't stubborn; she didn't insist on using the 'perfect' method.
She was actually quite flexible. As long as it solved the problem, she didn't mind if the method was clumsy or tedious.
Especially since this matter wasn't something that should be delayed. Every moment they waited, the situation could worsen.
Therefore, now that they had a plan, they would use it to solve the problem first.
Chang'e looked at Su Qing with a bit of amazement. "I thought you'd be a perfectionist about this! I didn't expect you to be so casual about it."
"Casual? I don't think it's casual." Su Qing looked at her. "I decided on this method after careful consideration."
"Really? Didn't you just think the method was feasible and decide on a whim?" Chang'e tilted her head.
Su Qing rolled her eyes. "I'm not you! I don't make decisions on a whim like that."
"Hey, I only decide things after careful thought!" Chang'e shook her head.
Su Qing was speechless for a moment and decided not to argue. She simply said, "Forget it, I'm not going to argue with you. The priority now is to plan out how to do this. We have the method, but the implementation needs a solid plan."
Su Qing was more concerned about the fire veins of the Changbai Mountains and didn't want to keep discussing nonsense with Chang'e.
Naturally, she steered the conversation back to business.
Chang'e rubbed her chin, thought for a moment, and said calmly, "Isn't it just a matter of lacking people? You have so many friends, and I have quite a few as well. Why not just call them up to help? But do you really plan to just stop at suppression?"
"Do you think I wouldn't have thought of that? What I said we need to plan is the matter of the array plates," Su Qing said, rolling her eyes.
How could she not have thought of something so simple? Was this woman underestimating her?
Hearing Su Qing's answer, Chang'e chuckled. "Alright! Then tell me, how do you plan to handle the array plates?"
Su Qing was silent for a moment before saying, "Naturally, I'm going to exploit you! You know how to make array plates, right? Come on, help me make them."
"Huh?" Su Qing's answer caught Chang'e off guard again. She hadn't expected Su Qing to drag her into the labor so unhesitatingly.
Seeing her surprised look, Su Qing chuckled. "Otherwise, why did you think I asked you to come help?"
Chang'e finally understood. So that was the deal?
She was speechless for a moment, but she didn't refuse to help.
After all, she had come here to help... she just hadn't expected this kind of work.
She had thought she would get to show off some grand divine powers!
She rolled her eyes and said, "Fine, fine, I'll help you with the array plates. But afterward, you have to accompany me for a good drink! Making those plates is going to be very tiring work!"
Su Qing chuckled and nodded. "When have I ever not accompanied you for a drink? Alright, let's go. To the forging room to make the array plates!"
Su Qing stood up and headed toward the forging room.
"Are you going to wait until everything is ready before calling for people? Won't that be a bit too late?" Chang'e asked.
Su Qing shook her head. "Of course I'm not going to wait until the plates are done. I'm going to call for people right now! Don't forget, I have two clones! Doing three different things at once is no trouble for me."
Su Qing's clones weren't just for show.
In this situation, the clones had new work to do.
"Right, I forgot about your clones." Chang'e nodded. "Then let's go, let's get to work!"
Su Qing smiled and nodded, and the two of them entered the forging room to begin refining the array plates.
This time, they didn't just need to refine identical array plates that were linked to each other; they also needed a significant quantity. After all, the array had to cover over a hundred miles of earth veins; one or two plates wouldn't suffice.
Therefore, the two of them were certainly going to be busy for a while.
And that was why Chang'e said it would be exhausting.
Because it truly would be.
While Su Qing began crafting the array plates, her clones set aside their current tasks and began traveling to gather allies.
Gathering allies wasn't difficult; it was just a matter of visiting several places.
The first place Su Qing went to was Flower-Fruit Mountain.
Riding her Somersault Cloud, Su Qing soon arrived above the mountain.
It had been a while since she had visited Flower-Fruit Mountain. Looking down at the city on the mountain from afar, Su Qing couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental. In the years she had been away, Flower-Fruit Mountain had become even more prosperous, and the city had expanded significantly.
"Huh? I didn't expect there to be a statue of me!? Uh, why are there several sparrows standing on my shoulder?" Su Qing looked at the statue and couldn't help but laugh.
She shook her head slightly, wondering, 'I wonder whose masterpiece that is.'
However, after the brief surprise, Su Qing calmed down. The priority was to find Sun Wukong and the others.
Sun Wukong, naturally, had sensed Su Qing's arrival the moment she reached Flower-Fruit Mountain.
Setting aside divine sense, it was hard not to notice such a conspicuous red cloud floating in the sky.
Therefore, just as Su Qing was preparing to descend to find him, Sun Wukong proactively rode a cloud up to meet her.
He actually gave Su Qing quite a start.
Rate on N.U.
