Chapter 16: The Method of Sacrifice

Hearing what this manticore had to say, Li Mingxing hesitated for a moment before asking, "Then what can the two beside you teach me?"

"The one on my left can teach you how to preserve the subordinates who are most loyal to you, while the one to his left can teach you the method of leading your subordinates to fight desperately," the manticore glanced at Li Mingxing.

However, Li Mingxing noticed that its gaze finally swept across the manticore on the far left, and the dissatisfaction in its eyes was quite intense.

"Can I learn all three?" Li Mingxing asked right then and there.

"Of course not. Our three methods are each formed by combining four or five skills. You can learn at most one of them; learning too many will only leave you confused."

Listening to the manticore's words, Li Mingxing hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "I still want to learn the method that requires the fewest sacrifices in exchange for the greatest benefits."

Hearing Li Mingxing's resolute reply, the manticore did not show any sign of joy. It said, "Can you tell me why you made such a choice?"

"Because the number of my subordinates is not very large, I will not have them throw their lives away casually. Moreover, while my subordinates are loyal, their lives exist for my sake. I cannot sacrifice my own interests just to preserve them," Li Mingxing said calmly.

"A very good selection by process of elimination. Then so be it, you will follow me to learn the composite technique known as the Art of Sacrifice," the manticore grinned again. "During this period, you may call me mentor, or you may simply call me by my name, Xiada."

Following that, Xiada began to explain things to Li Mingxing. He did not start by explaining what the Art of Sacrifice was, but instead began with what a composite technique was.

A composite technique refers to a technique that can only be learned after training a certain skill or combination of skills to a specific level. Once this composite technique is learned, all the levels of the previously acquired component skills will vanish, and all their accumulated experience will be merged directly into the newly learned composite technique. Afterward, this composite technique can manifest all the characteristics of the original skills, and may even receive a corresponding enhancement.

The Art of Sacrifice that Li Mingxing wanted to learn was precisely such a composite skill. According to Xiada, to make one's subordinates willingly make sacrifices, they must possess sufficient morale to fight to the death. Therefore, Li Mingxing had to learn skills such as Fervor or Leadership and raise them to level 2 or level 3.

Of course, to prevent his subordinates from feeling deceived when the time came for sacrifice, Li Mingxing's proficiency in Deception also needed to reach around level 3. In addition, Li Mingxing required an absolute macro-perspective to consider when he should strike and when he should sacrifice a portion of his subordinates in order to secure greater gains. Thus, a macro-tactical skill capable of grasping the overall situation was also something Li Mingxing needed to study.

Furthermore, Li Mingxing required a certain level of computational capability. Without such calculating prowess, Li Mingxing would be unable to tell whether his sacrifices resulted in a net gain or a loss, causing him to hesitate the next time a sacrifice was required, which would cause the Art of Sacrifice to instantly collapse from within. Therefore, he had to master at least one calculation-based skill and raise it to level 3.

Hearing this, Li Mingxing was stunned. Some of these skills were things Li Mingxing had never even heard of before, let alone directly elevating them to level 2 or 3. This put Li Mingxing in a quite difficult position.

Perhaps sensing Li Mingxing's hesitation, Xiada stated, "Such a mindset will not do. Someone who studies the Art of Sacrifice must never show the slightest hesitation. Any hesitation on your part will affect the entire situation and render your sacrifices completely futile, so you must be decisive."

Upon hearing these words, Li Mingxing turned serious as well. "Then can you tell me how I can learn these techniques, and how to raise these skills to level 3?"

"All the skills can be learned from me. As for how to raise them to level 3, that is your own affair. In any case, once you meet the requirements, come back to me and I will naturally combine your skills into the Art of Sacrifice," Xiada said with a smile.

This time, Li Mingxing did not hesitate at all, directly asking Xiada to teach him all the skills. However, Xiada laughed and said, "Now is not the time. As you can see, if you want to learn techniques here, you must complete—what is it called—ah yes, complete a task. Of course, these are merely the little demands of a few old fellows like us who cannot leave. Without tasks like these, old codgers like me trapped here wouldn't even have food or drink."

Subsequently, Xiada laid out his demands to Li Mingxing. He required red sea fish, at least three meters in length, and wanted only the three ounces of meat located directly beneath their gills. For every ten pounds of meat, he would teach Li Mingxing one skill. As for how to raise those skills to level 3, that was no longer Li Mingxing's concern.

Hearing Xiada's words, Li Mingxing shook his head. "What kind of demand is this? Isn't it just wanting to eat fish? Why be so picky about specific cuts of meat?"

"What do you know? Only the meat from right there tastes good. The others of us are too embarrassed to even voice such a demand," Li Mingxing's words were overheard by a nearby manticore, who leaped up and roared loudly.

After being rebuked like that, Li Mingxing lost his temper and honestly plunged into the sea, hoping to secure some sea fish before noon, right before the battle between the manticores and the griffins commenced.

However, once he entered the ocean, Li Mingxing realized that the situation was somewhat more complicated. Although these marine fish grew at a fairly rapid pace, finding ones that reached three meters or more in length was relatively rare. Moreover, fish of that size were already ancient and cunning; while they lacked the strength to fight Li Mingxing directly, evading his pursuit underwater was something they could accomplish quite easily.

After chasing them for a while, Li Mingxing found himself seemingly unable to catch up to these sea fish, forcing him to devise another strategy to deal with them.

At this point, Li Mingxing summoned his vessel and brought the matter up with the half-demon mermaid. "Tell me, do you have any way to lure all the sea fish in the area over here?"

After listening, the half-demon mermaid considered the matter for a moment and replied, "Our spiritual songs do not have a massive effect on sea fish, but we can give it a try."

"Then let's try. As long as you herd the fish together, I'll take care of the rest."

As soon as Li Mingxing finished speaking, the mermaid's song rang out. Before long, a batch of manticores and griffins flew out from the cave entrances up into the sky. However, rather than gathering near the mermaid, they merely circled lazily overhead, looking as though they were watching a spectacle.

Meanwhile, the marine fish in the water seemed to hear the sound as well, swimming in from all directions. However, their hearing was nowhere near as sharp as the creatures of the sky and land, so the mermaid managed to attract only a portion of the sea fish.

Even so, that partial grouping yielded numerous three-meter-plus sea fish for Li Mingxing. Seeing the fish poking their heads out of the water one after another, Li Mingxing issued a loud command: "All white harpies, use spiritual toxins and ensure every single red sea fish over three meters is left behind for me!"

With that order, a large flock of white harpies flew out from Li Mingxing's ship. Moving with lightning speed, they circled the sky, and with nearly every motion, the blowguns in their hands dispatched projectiles straight into their chosen targets.

Following their attacks, Li Mingxing's centaur subordinates leaped from the vessel. Treading upon the heads of the paralyzed sea fish, they bent down repeatedly to haul the massive specimens aboard Li Mingxing's warship.

Afterwards, the remainder of Li Mingxing's troops began dismantling the fish. The cuts of meat requested by Xiada were set aside, while the rest were categorized by Li Mingxing: bones and teeth were preserved as raw materials for crafting tools or weapons, and the ordinary meat was distributed as food to the sea monsters and mermaids.

Naturally, Li Mingxing also extracted venom sac-like organs from the bodies of these sea fish, which served to replenish the rapidly depleting stock of toxins at his disposal.

Amidst Li Mingxing's marine massacre, both the griffins and manticores in the sky were jolted awake, yet none of them intervened. To the manticores, Li Mingxing was merely fulfilling his task, so there was nothing to obstruct.

The griffins were even more delighted; every single red sea fish Li Mingxing slaughtered meant a slight reduction in the sea monster population threatening their domain, so why would they ever hinder his actions?

With tacit approval from both factions, even when noon arrived, the daily routine of foraging and combat failed to disrupt Li Mingxing's operations. By the dead of night, Li Mingxing had finally completed the quota of tasks required to learn all the techniques.

Carrying the harvested fish meat, Li Mingxing, with Zheng's assistance, once again entered the cave of the manticore mentors.

However, Li Mingxing discovered that the moment he brought the fish meat into the cavern, all the active manticores within had blocked the entrance.

Before Li Mingxing could speak, one of the manticores declared, "Kid, you're a natural-born brawler. Even if you're learning intellectual pursuits, you might as well pick up a bit of hand-to-hand combat from us. We don't want much—just share a little bit of that meat with us."

Seeing the expressions on the manticores' faces, Li Mingxing instinctively took a step back. "Is this meat really that good? Do you really have to go this far?"

"Of course! You have no idea; this is the finest meat on those sea fish. When those little guys finish their tasks, they always devour this meat completely. It's been many years since we've tasted good meat," one manticore said, drooling as the others nodded in agreement and closed in around Li Mingxing, looking very much like they intended to plunder the cargo by force.