I Can See Your Combat Power

“The valuable spirit herbs in the Endless Void’s Stomach must have been discovered,” Clan Chief Tang Zhi speculated after some deliberation. Something that could disturb a Grandmaster was surely no small matter. And such a grand affair can indeed be described by the discovery of 92 million thousand-year-old spirit herbs.

Tang Baichuan also voiced his concerns gloomily: “Now we have to see whether this Grandmaster wants to pocket these spiritual herbs for himself or report to the Ji Clan.”

“I hoped that the Grandmaster would report it to the Ji Clan,” Tang Zhi spoke indifferently. “If he reports to the Ji Clan, considering the alliance between our two clans, the Ji Clan might at most demand some compensations. But if he wishes to keep it all for himself, he might be in a hurry to find reinforcements.”

Birds of a feather flock together. When you’re at the Mortal Realm, everyone around you seems to be a warrior on the same level. The appearance of a Transcendental One would have you yelling with awe at the sight of a strong warrior.

But when you ascend to the Transcendental Realm, you realize that what the Mortal Realm competes for is nothing more than small gains. Only Transcendental Ones become significant in the martial arts world, while powerful warriors from the Fierce Realm could start a clan, settle a family, and rule a region.

Yet, only when one reaches the Fierce Realm will they understand that it is merely the threshold of being a strong warrior. It offers some degree of security compared to the past, but the vast resources required to constitute a Fierce Realm warrior are beyond what a freelance cultivator can afford.

No matter how you envisioned your future, when you achieve your goals, you’ll realize that you’re perpetually dissatisfied.

If a Grandmaster harbors evil intentions, it can be far worse than the current battle situation.

If this were normal times, one such Grandmaster would not pose much of a threat to the Tang Clan. But it’s a different story at this particular moment.

As the saying goes, one may hold no ill intentions, but one must remain vigilant. As Tang Zhi deduced that Tang Luo’s spirit herbs had been exposed, the council hall was momentarily consumed by anxiety and silence.

“We’re at a point of no return. We’ve just got to roll with it.” Tang Zhi decided after contemplating. Given the current situation of the Tang Clan, they had no means of protecting Tang Luo from a well-intentioned Grandmaster. However, it didn’t imply that they didn’t have escape plans.

The kin folk on the North Mountain had been gradually retreating. By now, everyone from the first to fourth ranks had retreated more than a hundred miles from their original positions. It was time for him to initiate the clan’s defensive measures.

“Lord Bai Chuan, this time when you go to Kunwu, take General Luo with you,” Tang Zhi instructed Tang Baichuan. “Set off immediately.”

“Eh! Wait, wait.” Before Tang Baichuan could respond, Tang Luo interrupted, “I feel like something’s off. Clan Chief, could you tell me why you not only brought the former Sect Head here, but even gathered all the members with marvellous martial talent here. What are you trying to do?”

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Whenever our clan faces a major battle, we send a portion of our strongest clan members to a totally safe place, where they wait until the war ends to return home,” Clan Chief Tang Zhi explained, pointing to the large map of Longzhou hanging on the South Wall of the council hall. “This process is called ‘bloodline branching.\'”

“I know this is bloodline branching,” Tang Luo furrowed his brows as more doubts consumed him. “I want to ask, has the situation deteriorated to this extent?”

Not to mention the not-yet-intervened stewards at the grand monastery which hold the real core strength of the Tang Clan. Although their old age prevented them from enduring the war for long, their intervention could nonetheless tip the balance of war once they stepped in.

The Dark Thunder Hall, which disappeared at the start of the battle, and the countless Transcendental One squads on North Mountain; the bloodline branching seems unreasonably early given the current situation.

Tang Luo was still puzzled when he looked at the random destinations of each rank, “Why do the ranks need to split up? We’re already short of troops, and now you want to divide our forces further; What if we’re attacked?”

As the commander of the defense, Tang Luo had already passed on to the Wind Media Department the strange information he gathered from the heavenly watchtower. It looked like it wasn’t taken seriously. He thought he might need to mention it again: “Although the eastern slope of the North Mountain has been constantly disturbed by the troop of fairy bird feather guards, they’re far from forming Mi Clan’s elite force in terms of the number and cultivation level. The deep North Mountain is highly dangerous, difficult for movement, let alone fighting against the enemies. If a troop like the 18 God Feather Riders emerges, the retreating ranks would certainly suffer heavy casualties.”

Even if he was extremely capable, he could only do so much with a pair of eyes. To Tang Luo, the clan’s division of forces seemed to disperse their advantages. If they just retreated together as a team, with the Tang Clan’s surveillance, they could be escorted within a hundred miles without worries. But now, all he could do was to fret.

Confronted with the continuous questioning of the Commander, Clan Chief Tang Zhi calmly replied: “There’s no such thing as a war without casualties. What’s important is victory.”

Tang Luo was stunned for a moment. Looking at Tang Zhi’s expression, he suddenly understood something and suppressed his anger to ask, “So the squads are just bait you threw out? They are your clansmen!”

“No,” Tang Zhi shook his head, “Not all of them.”

During this period, the various clans defending against the Mi Clan’s allied forces along with the Tang Clan were all within the ranks. Among them were the Zhu and Wei Clans, about seven or eight small clans, and the new city’s various clans’ excellent descendants.

Therefore, within the clansmen composing the ranks for retreat, those from the Tang Clan only made up a tiny proportion. This was also a method thought out by Tang Zhi to reduce casualties among the clansmen.

After all, regardless from which perspective, once a squad is attacked, those who die first would definitely not be Tang Clan’s well-trained clansmen.

“Are you so sure your plan will work?” Tang Luo laughed in anger. Even though he was familiar with Tang Zhi’s style of doing anything necessary for their goals, seeing him scheme even against their own clansmen still sparked anger in him: “So you knew early on that the number of fairy bird feather guards was off, you knew early on that the Mi Clan’s goal is to firmly trap the North Mountain defense force and to ambush the ranks. You intentionally made the squad large, just to let the Mi Clan succeed. Why?”

“Because, only then will the cautious Mi Clan Chief Jin dare deploy the Mi Clan’s reserves to chase and increase their victory.”

“So you’d want your front line to feign defeat, and your clansmen to get hurt?”

“Feign defeat? No, actual defeat!”

Clan Chief Tang Zhi responded with a light laugh. Meanwhile, a young Wind Media messenger scurried into the council hall, shouting frantically, “Reporting to the Clan Chief! The defense line on the west slope is on the brink of collapse, we request reinforcements!”

“Impossible!” Tang Luo turned around, “The defense line on the west slope is guarded by Sect Head, Great Elder, Leader Yi and several deacons from the grand monastery. How could they fail?”

When he left the Heavenly Watchtower, the defense line on the west slope was perfectly in check. He had trouble believing that within a short span of time, the defense line had collapsed.

“Commander Luo, just now, an elderly man with white hair and a green tunic appeared in the Mi Clan alliance army and charged into the crowd. He shaped himself into a green mist. Two of our clansmen on the Ancestral River stage couldn’t dodge in time and were caught. They turned into puddles of flesh and bones.”