The next few days weren't very exciting. The autumn air was heavy, as if nature itself anguished in the slaughter to come.
Mortals like Xin and Foundation stage masters like Lei didn't have any recon assignments, as these were handled by higher ranked masters flying around and using their investigative methods.
Still, the mood in the camp was relatively upbeat. Even if most people here never participated in war, or even killed other people, being around master Fang Zhi filled them with a sense of safety. And they'd rather be here than on the Southern front, where the battles were much larger in scale.
Master Xie Xiaodan descended from the sky and bowed to master Zhi, who just returned from the opposite side.
"Reporting in, master. The forces of the enemy..." Xin could hear standing somewhat afar, applying a bit of qi to his already heightened senses.
"Wait a second, Xiaodan." Master Zhi clapped his fingers. Xin could no longer hear anything.
Shit.
Ten minutes later, master Zhi manifested a beautiful battle tent, embroidered in golden threads, out of his core, and invited all the rank two masters inside. Ten more minutes after, they came out, and master Zhi made an announcement:
"Attention, subordinates! The enemy forces are spreading around the north-east of the valley, trying to create distractions. This in an attempt to lure our higher ranked masters into an ambush. To ensure logistical safety, we'll capture a number of fortifications around the area! Your officers will now split you into several mobile groups, prepare to march out." He nodded to everyone and went back into his tent. Quite a short speech. He left motivation to Xie Xiaodan, it seems.
Xin tried to assess the situation. The existence of higher ranked masters makes everything too complex. Usually, a fortification would always be beneficial to capture. Twenty crossbowmen can hold a fort against a hundred people. But if you put even a hundred mortals inside of a simple fortification, a lone rank three master could clear it alone, using area attacks. Thus, it changed the whole picture.
Such a war is about drawing away the highest ranked masters, and making them waste energy ineffectively. Once all such masters are exposed, killed or exhausted, the lower ranked fighters would be left defenseless. Still, the mortals are crucial in applying pressure to rank ones, and rank ones can overwhelm a rank two with numbers. Such a chain reaction would be stupid to underestimate.
If one made the opponent's higher ranked fighters open up and intervene in lower ranked matters, they could ambush their exposed and unaware enemy. And if one was able to make the enemy break the rules, the highest ranked cultivators could intervene and squash them like bugs.
It's an obvious winning strategy, and the risk of mutual destruction usually kept the higher ranked fighters from getting involved directly. Still, a rank three master launching giant fireballs or blade whirlinds and slaughtering mortals in droves was a common occurrence in war, despite all the rules and regulations. And demonic cultivators didn't adhere to the rules at all, most of the time. They usually followed their own fluid idea of honour, its definition changing with the wind.
Xin related the large-scale situation to himself.
My intended task, it seems, is to eliminate mortals, and provide as much assistance as possible. But what if I killed a few rank one masters, could it create a snowball effect on the whole battlefield? As long as I manage to avoid the consequences (mainly other rank ones trying to punish me, with my immunity now gone), I'll be of immense help. On the other hand, a rank two fighter might decide that I've been too much of a nuisance, and squash me like a bug. That's a net win for our forces, as it would allow a rank three master to kill them in response, but I'd be dead by then. Not a good exchange, in my book.
The troop that Xin was in had a few familiar faces. His two closest friends were here, with Ming leading the squad Xin was in, and Lei leading another. Yao Nang was also assigned into Lei's group, which Xin found funny.
The main officer of their troop was Xie Xiaodan, and Xin concluded that it meant that this squad was going to be a spearheading force. Tough luck. Only other rank two with them was Master Yu Ting, but her squad was tasked with guarding the formation, and was much smaller.
Master Fang Zhi would oversee the battlefield, but given how mysterious and fast paced higher ranked maneuvers were, Xin couldn't predict his exact role in the battle to come.
"Listen, soldiers!" Master Xie Xiaodan walked around his troops, his flying cube reduced enough to fit into his hand, but still spinning. "We're marching towards a Fist sect encampment up north, they've got a fort there. It's a small homestead, with around five large buildings, and several smaller. It's surrounded by a wooden wall, but..."
Wait, Liao's homestead! If they encamped there, what happened to the families?
"We'll break the gates, or even make a hole in the wall, and attempt to overwhelm them with ranged attacks. Once we grind their forces down, we'll commence an assault. Our forces will approach the area from several directions, split into smaller groups. This fight will be overseen by the capital, I can guarantee this, stay mindful of the rules. Clear?"
"Yes, master!"
"Good. Go join your commanders." He turned around and prepared to leave.
"Master Xiaodan!" Xin approached him from behind as he was about to leave. "I might have some valuable intel!"
"Oh, you don't say. Let's come aside." He walked him towards his tent. "Speak."
"So, the homestead you're speaking about, is it Liao's homestead?"
"Yes. Hmmm, anything you could tell me?"
Xin tried to think very hard. Any little detail might be useful.
"Several families live there, all heavily intermarried. Small clans. I already had an encounter with Fist sect there. They threatened to capture that place, and tried to recruit me and Lei forcefully. We managed to get them to back off, somehow."
"What a nice trip down the memory lane. Anything relevant to say, though?" He tensed his puffy lips together.
"Five buildings, I could draw a small plan by memory. An alchemist's shack, a sauna, two longhouses, a tavern. But people also live there. Two gates, stables. A bunch of vegetable gardens. A well."
"I appreciate this, but I could just fly above and see it. We still don't know the status of the inhabitants. Suspect they've been turned into serfs. Think, boy. Anything that we could use to our advantage?"
Xin thought very hard, the vein on his temple bulging once again.
"The logs on their paling aren't assembled very well. In my humble opinion, rank two methods could destroy it easier than it seems. It would require your expertise, of course."
"That's a small bit, but it's something. What would you know about rank two methods, though?"
"I watched the tournaments. I killed a rank two master, injured another one. Fought a rank two creature, saw it fight another rank two master..." Xin frowned. He realised he was talking about master Xiaodan's brother. It only then dawned on him how brutal this past week was for master Xiaodan. The woman he was in love with was almost crippled, his best friend and rival was dead, and so was his brother. "I'm sorry."
"Fine, I get it, kid. Several clans, a bunch of buildings, an alchemist's shack, a sauna. Some food and water supplies. The walls are less durable than they seem. Good. It's not much, but it's something. Now get back to your camp duties."
"Thanks, master." Not even a contribution point? Rude.
In the evening, master Xiaodan returned to their camp, his expression stoic and serious.
"Hey, master Ting, met a flying sword master on recon." He announced for her, but also for everyone to hear. "Divine Sword sect."
"I see, master Xiaodan. Let's proceed with caution. Did he attack?"
"No, he chose not to engage me, so I went to report back. Could be a trap."
Xin felt his heart beat faster. The dynamics of higher realm encounters felt like a form of mental torture. In normal combat, you at least fight and get it over with. Higher ranked battles felt like a game of "will he/won't he" mixed with some "cat and mouse". Xin felt like he'd be grey haired by thirty if he had to endure something like that.
An hour later, their forced march was finally over. They sat up a camp two li (1km) away from the homestead, and prepared to rest. At least the recon was handled by someone else, Xin thought. Still, he was quite uncomfortable not being able to contribute with his tracking and perception abilities. Xin would rather remove anxiety by acting than be a passenger, carried by someone stronger, but such was the reality of his situation.
Lei finished receiving reports and assigning small tasks to his group of fighters, and approached Xin, who was eating a carrot and a dried, salted chunk of meat.
"Hey, how about some intel?" He smirked as he patted Xin's shoulder, sitting down near him.
"Sure. Tell me." Xin responded, chewing.
"There are many fighters there, but most seem like fresh recruits. They outnumber us slightly, but it looks like a trap. Inside the buildings, there might be more higher ranked warriors. There are also some mercs there. And some cunts are probably camping closer to the mountains, from where we descended after fighting that yaoguai. Think they're trying to tie us down, then reinforce with stronger forces. Catching us with our dicks half-way inside the fort would be a win for them."
"Master Zhi must have a plan of his own. How is he as a strategist, do you know anything?"
"Heard that he led our forces out of Tianqi valley twenty years ago, after they got crushed and his master died. He has a reputation as a careful commander."
As Lei said it, there was a roar of thunder in the sky. Most people grabbed their weapons and prepared to fight, some just stood there, shocked. The sky was clear, with only a few white clouds, and the air dry, no one expected the thunder to erupt. A moment later, from where the sound came, a purple ethereal ball emerged, growing to the size of a horse, but then dissipated, giving way to a human silhouette.
"An overseer! The capital's inspector!" Master Ting shouted out. "Everyone, calm down!"
Indeed, it was him. Xin focused his eyesight as hard as he could. He managed to distinguish a middle aged looking man, with a rosy, unremarkable face, mounting a simple looking flying sword, wearing humble, single-toned black bureaucrat's robes and a hat.
"What's going to happen now?" Lei asked Xin, as if his friend would know.
And, as if to answer his question, the bureaucrat opened a scroll. A white beam of light pierced it from above the clouds. He then waved his hand and chanted something Xin couldn't hear, and white raindrops of energy spread around the field, settling into the earth and creating an invisible formation.
Xin felt seen, despite no one looking directly at him. He stepped behind the tree, away from the bureaucrat, but the feeling persisted.
"I still feel it. You?" He asked Lei.
"It's quite subtle. But I get it. Imagine having such a master on our side, able to scan the battlefield!"
"We have no time for fantasies. Let's focus."
"If you focus too hard, you'll shit yourself. Calm down."
"Sure. Now go lead your troops."
"Pushing me away again? Fine, you'll come crawling back, sweetie." Lei said in a feminine voice, as he left giggling. Xin rolled his eyes.