Chapter 422 ·Calculations Between Two Sects
Chapter 422: Calculations Between Two Sects
The Mirror Moon Sect had many methods for transporting wartime supplies to the front line.
The first was transportation by Nascent Soul True Monarchs using teleportation Mystical Abilities.
This method of transportation was the most efficient, but it was extremely rare.
There was no other reason. Nascent Soul True Monarchs were among the foremost existences in the Earth Proliferation Territory. Their status was exalted, and they could become Grand Elders of the Five Great Sects of the Earth Proliferation Territory.
Unless the supplies were exceptionally urgent and extraordinarily valuable, few Nascent Soul True Monarchs would be willing to waste Heavenly-Gang True Qi carrying supplies with teleportation Mystical Abilities. The cost-effectiveness was simply too low, and it wasted too much of a Nascent Soul True Monarch’s precious combat strength and time.
The second was to establish fixed medium-sized teleportation formations between logistical markets and major front-line strongholds to transport supplies.
This method of transportation was the most common and relatively safe, but during wartime, it had one disadvantage that could not be ignored.
If they relied too heavily on medium-sized teleportation formations for resupply, once the formation’s location was locked onto by an enemy sect and the surrounding space was sealed, the major front-line stronghold could easily lose its teleportation formation supply route and become an isolated city.
The third was transportation by large warships. This method of transportation was basically only used during wartime.
With multiple Golden Core True Persons leading the way, accompanied by sect Dao Soldiers and warships, the safety of the fleet could be guaranteed even if it encountered an attack from a Nascent Soul True Monarch.
The fourth was transporting supplies with small cultivator squads.
The value of this method lay in its flexibility and concealment. Multiple squads could be split up to transport supplies, blending perfectly among the numerous cultivators and greatly reducing the risk of exposure, making them extremely difficult for enemy sect cultivators to discover and sabotage.
Of course, if the entire transport region had already fallen, or if intelligence concerning the transport personnel had already been exposed, this method would instead carry the greatest risk.
The logistical transport mission Mo Li had accepted was undoubtedly the fourth type.
Blackstone Gorge was near Broken Dragon Cliff, and Broken Dragon Cliff had been breached by the Blood Fortune Sect three years ago. Roughly two-thirds of the entire region had fallen, with only Blackstone Gorge surviving thanks to its dangerous terrain and the Mirror Moon Sect’s support.
Without question, this was an extremely high-risk transport mission.
Because she had failed to offer a bribe, she was very likely being used as bait to muddy the waters and conceal the true transport squad.
At this thought, Mo Li took a deep breath, tightened her grip on the black jade slip, and walked toward the Logistics Office.
In the cultivation world of the Southern Wastes, weakness itself was the original sin.
If she possessed peak Foundation Establishment cultivation, she could find an opportunity to hide in the shadows, launch a surprise attack, cut down that greedy deacon with a single sword to avenge herself, then flee Cloudridge Market.
If she were fortunate enough to achieve Core Formation, she could become an honored elder of the Mirror Moon Sect and issue a Bounty Ranking notice seeking and gathering clues about the Immortal Master.
But right now, she was nothing!
Mo Li was actually well aware of this.
Perhaps in the Immortal Master’s eyes, from beginning to end, she had merely been an ordinary and utterly inconspicuous peasant herb-gathering girl, not worth mentioning at all.
Otherwise, back then, after discovering that she possessed a Metal-Attribute Earth-Grade Root, the Immortal Master would not have calmly left without the slightest thought of taking her away!
But gratitude was gratitude, and affection was affection.
Had the Immortal Master never appeared, she would have helplessly watched her father die of illness with nothing but regret.
Had the Immortal Master never appeared, she would never have been able to step onto the Immortal Path. Perhaps she would already have married into a farming household, spent her entire life laboring busily, and eventually turned to dust.
“Who are you?”
Watching Mo Li slowly approach, Wang Hao spoke warily.
The newcomer was only at early-stage Foundation Establishment, wore a veil, and was dressed plainly. At a glance, she was obviously either a Foundation Establishment cultivator from a subordinate clan of the sect or an unaffiliated Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Mo Li presented the black jade slip in her hand and identified herself.
Wang Hao and Bai Zhi exchanged glances, their expressions turning somewhat ugly.
This was going too far. Just to make things difficult for them, Zhou Tianyu had actually sent two early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators to drag them down.
But anger was anger. After confirming that there was nothing wrong with Mo Li’s Conscription Order, Wang Hao gave a slight nod, briefly introduced everyone, then explained the mission.
“Remember, to prevent any accidents during the mission, all you need to do is monitor and record. I will be responsible for arranging the specific route.
You are not permitted to leave the designated route at will, nor may you send out any Transmission Talismans. Every action must remain within the range of my Divine Sense.
Otherwise, if anything happens to the transport, you alone will be held responsible. Do you understand?” Wang Hao said solemnly.
“Understood.”
Mo Li nodded. Looking at one teammate with a severed arm, another who had nearly gone blind, and a thin old man whose cultivation was at the same level as hers, her heart sank.
Without question, the words old, weak, sick, and disabled perfectly described the condition of this squad.
If anything happened, this transport squad would probably abandon her and the old man immediately, solely to complete the transport mission.
“Alright, since you understand, let’s depart immediately.” Bai Zhi decisively said.
The longer they delayed, the more dangerous this mission would become.
“Whoosh!”
“Whoosh!”
“Whoosh!”
Watching the four streaks of escaping light depart, Chen Beiwu looked toward Xuele and transmitted his thoughts：‘How did the investigation go? Which faction is behind Zhou Tianyu?’
“Na.”
Xuele nodded, indicating that Chen Beiwu’s intuition had been extremely accurate.
On the surface, Zhou Tianyu was backed by Deputy Market Master Lin, Deputy Market Master Lin was backed by Golden Core True Person Yu Xuanhao, and Yu Xuanhao was in turn the great-grandson of True Person Nine Origins.
Following that line, Zhou Tianyu was absolutely a Foundation Establishment cultivator belonging to True Person Nine Origins’ faction. There was nothing wrong with that conclusion.
But then came the problem. When she followed Blood Marrow True Monarch, she discovered that although Deputy Market Master Lin was a Golden Core True Person, Blood Marrow True Monarch had planted a sinister method within him, reducing him to a lackey of Demonic Cultivators whose life and death were no longer under his own control.
From this, it was clear that the faction targeting the Beast-Taming Lineage was not necessarily the Nine Origins faction. It was highly likely to be connected with Yan Song, Chief Inspector of Cloudridge Market’s War Hall Inspection Office, and Deputy Sect Master Lin behind him.
Hearing this, Iron Egg looked toward Chen Beiwu and finally understood why his master had not directly acted against Zhou Tianyu and searched his soul.
Once something happened to Zhou Tianyu and the enemy was alerted, Deputy Market Master Lin might be forced to commit suicide and die suddenly, destroying all evidence.
Even the plan secretly being carried out by Blood Marrow True Monarch and Yan Song might be temporarily suspended, or they might even change their target at the last moment.
“Tell me, with Blood Marrow True Monarch and Yan Song being this cautious, could their target be the entirety of Cloudridge Market?” Chen Beiwu asked through his thoughts.
Golden Egg blinked and said nothing.
Although he had three heads, possessed extraordinary intelligence, and had three times the intelligence of Beast Kings at the same realm, he disliked using his brain and could not be bothered to answer.
“Woof.”
Iron Egg shook his head, indicating that it was impossible.
The Market Master presiding over Cloudridge Market was the sect’s newly advanced Nascent Soul True Monarch, Grand Elder of the Formation Hall, True Monarch Nine Palaces Yu Shuiyao.
True Monarch Nine Palaces had a cautious personality, was proficient in formations, and never left the market. Even if Blood Marrow True Monarch wanted to attack Cloudridge Market, and internal collaborators such as Yan Song and the Deputy Market Master launched a rebellion together, they would still be suppressed by the market’s formations.
Furthermore, Cloudridge Market was not far from Mirror-Sky City. Once a Nascent Soul-level battle broke out and their whereabouts were exposed, Blood Marrow True Monarch would find it very difficult to escape and might even lose his life.
“Exactly. If it isn’t Cloudridge Market, then the target is Blackstone Gorge.” Chen Beiwu smiled.
Just then, the Five Qi puppet avatar monitoring Yan Song transmitted new intelligence.
There were ostensibly nine cultivator squads responsible for Blackstone Gorge’s transport mission this time. One squad was responsible for transporting the genuine supplies, while the other eight served as decoys carrying fake supplies to mislead observers.
And among this batch of supplies were actually three Golden Palace Pills and one Nascent Soul Nourishing Pill.
One had to understand that although Golden Palace Pills were precious, compared to the Nascent Soul Nourishing Pill that could assist a Golden Core True Person in forming a Nascent Soul, their value was not even one ten-thousandth as great.
Even though the Nascent Soul Nourishing Pill had one drawback—after taking it, one either succeeded or died—and its value was far inferior to a Nascent Soul Formation Pill, it was still valuable enough for the Blood Fortune Sect to scheme for it.
“Obviously, Blood Marrow True Monarch’s target is the Nascent Soul Nourishing Pill!” Golden Egg’s eyes lit up as he voiced his guess.
Hearing this, Chen Beiwu smiled and did not dampen Golden Egg’s enthusiasm.
If only it were that simple.
The supplies transported by the Mirror Moon Sect would be sealed with special restrictions and kept confidential when they left storage. Let alone Cloudridge Market’s Deputy Market Master and the Chief Inspector of the Inspection Office, even someone at the level of Market Master would not know which squad was transporting the genuine supplies.
Furthermore, logically speaking, precious supplies containing a Nascent Soul Nourishing Pill were already valuable enough for the sect to employ a Nascent Soul True Monarch to transport them.
Yet the sect had not dispatched a Nascent Soul True Monarch and had instead used multiple small cultivator squads for transportation. What did that mean?
The answer was simple. Either the fighting on the front line was fierce, combat strength was desperately lacking, and the sect could no longer spare a Nascent Soul True Monarch; or the sect had another scheme and was deliberately using this batch of supplies as bait to fish for someone.
Thoughts raced through Chen Beiwu’s mind.
If he were Blood Marrow True Monarch, or a high-ranking member of the Blood Fortune Sect, knowing all this intelligence, what choice would he make?
At this thought, inspiration flashed through Chen Beiwu’s mind. He exchanged a glance with Golden Egg and the others, then his figure slowly disappeared.
……
That night, Black Ruins Market.
Black Ruins Branch Hall of the Rotating Star Hall.
As the radiance of the teleportation platform faded, a group of cultivators suddenly appeared.
Among the crowd, Wang Hao’s group did not hesitate. They left the market directly and headed west according to the mission requirements.
They needed to pass through Yin Ruins Gathering, where numerous unaffiliated cultivators congregated, cross the Rotting Forest Mountain Range where Beast Creatures ran rampant, and traverse the Blood-Weeping River plagued by rogue cultivators before they could successfully reach their destination, Blackstone Gorge.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
Five hundred li outside Yin Ruins Gathering, after successfully dealing with a Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator who did not know his own limits, Mo Li looked toward Captain Wang Hao.
At this moment, Wang Hao and the other two had each already dealt with their opponents and were calmly looking at her.
“Keep moving.” Wang Hao said succinctly.
“Take the pill and recover quickly. Don’t drag us down.”
Bai Zhi hesitated for a moment. Seeing that Mo Li had suffered a minor injury and her aura was unstable, she took out a bottle of pills and tossed it to her, then activated her escaping light and followed Wang Hao.
Looking at the jade bottle in her hand, Mo Li did not take the pill.
Although she understood medicinal properties to some extent, she still did not dare casually consume pills given to her by sect disciples.
Two days later, at the outer region of the Rotting Forest Mountain Range.
The transport squad had already been reduced to three people. The thin old man had been unlucky and died to Carrion Elephant Bees.
Wang Hao, Bai Zhi, and Mo Li were all injured and in poor condition.
Mo Li, whose cultivation was the weakest, was in particularly bad shape. The longsword Magical Artifact strapped across her back had already broken apart and could no longer be used.
The reason was simple. Their luck had been poor, and they had run into a swarm of hunting Carrion Elephant Bees.
Although Carrion Elephant Bees were only lower-grade Second-Tier Beast Creatures, if their numbers exceeded ten thousand, even a Golden Core True Person would keep their distance rather than waste True Qi and Mana provoking them.
Fortunately, the swarm of Carrion Elephant Bees they encountered was not large. There were only forty-six, barely enough to count as a small colony. At the critical moment, they had thrown Spirit Beast meat from their Storage Rings to divert the swarm’s attention and escaped with their lives.
“Phew, let’s rest for a while.”
Wang Hao exhaled a breath of turbid air, swallowed a pill, and regulated his breathing.
Next, they would have to cross the Blood-Weeping River, a place plagued by rogue cultivators, frequented by Demonic Cultivators, and filled with danger at every turn.
If they did not fully recover their condition, trouble could easily arise.
“If you still don’t take the pill and restore your Mana, you might die on the Blood-Weeping River.” Bai Zhi tossed over another jade bottle.
“Thank you.”
This time, Mo Li pursed her lips and did not refuse.
After fighting alongside them over the past few days, she had also come to understand that not all Mirror Moon Sect cultivators were gluttonous beasts who devoured others without even spitting out the bones.
If Bai Zhi had not thrown out Spirit Beast meat at the critical moment to draw the Carrion Elephant Bee swarm’s attention, she would already have ended up like their dead teammate, reduced to white bones.
“Ying.”
At the same time, Zhi Ling glanced at Mo Li and yawned.
Had she not acted in advance and crushed a group of Carrion Elephant Bees to death, peak Foundation Establishment cultivators Wang Hao and Bai Zhi might have escaped with their lives, but Mo Li, who only possessed early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, would undoubtedly have died.
But precisely because of this, she could not understand why Beiwu valued such a weak female cultivator.
……
Deep in the night.
As Wang Hao’s group crossed the Rotting Forest Mountain Range, nine black boats rode the waves deep within the Blood-Weeping River.
At the bow of the foremost black boat stood a handsome, square-faced middle-aged cultivator.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he gazed across the pitch-black river.
This man was none other than the Blood Fortune Sect Demonic Cultivator who had breached Broken Dragon Cliff three years ago and enjoyed a resounding reputation throughout the Earth Proliferation Territory, Blood Marrow True Monarch.
Two zhang behind Blood Marrow True Monarch stood an ordinary-looking young man.
This young man was ranked ninth among the Blood Fortune Sect’s current Ten Great True Disciples. His cultivation had reached the perfected Golden Core realm, and he styled himself True Person Blood Exchange, Shan Junjie.
Behind Shan Junjie, nine peak Foundation Establishment cultivators wore solemn expressions and did not dare show the slightest carelessness.
The Blood-Weeping River lay within territory ruled by the Mirror Moon Sect. Once they were discovered by Mirror Moon Sect cultivators and powerful experts were mobilized to encircle and suppress them, Blood Marrow True Monarch and True Person Blood Exchange might be able to escape with their strength, but these Foundation Establishment cultivators would have absolutely no path to survival.
“Junjie, did Fellow Daoist Lin clearly say it would be today?” Blood Marrow True Monarch suddenly asked.
“Yes, Master.” Shan Junjie hurriedly replied, unable to conceal his excitement.
This mission was dangerous, but it was also his best opportunity to obtain a Nascent Soul Formation Mystical Pill.
“Very good. Be sure to conceal your aura properly. Don’t ruin our sect’s grand plan.”
After saying this, Blood Marrow True Monarch closed his eyes and vanished together with the nine black boats into the surging waves of the Blood-Weeping River without leaving the slightest trace.
Meanwhile, Wang Hao’s group successfully reached the bank of the Blood-Weeping River.
Looking at the turbulent river surface, Mo Li instinctively turned her gaze toward Wang Hao.
With their cultivation, using escaping light to cross the Blood-Weeping River would not be a problem.
The problem was that doing so would consume nearly two-thirds of their Mana.
At that point, if rogue cultivators lay in ambush aboard boats in the river, rested and waiting for their exhausted prey, would that not be no different from sending themselves to their deaths?
“Don’t worry. I’ve already activated the signal. The Spirit Boat will arrive soon.”
Wang Hao pretended to remain calm, but inwardly, he had faintly sensed that something was wrong.
He had sent out the signal well in advance. Logically speaking, a Spirit Boat dispatched by the sect should already have been waiting on the river. Could something have happened?
But there was no other choice. They could only wait another quarter-hour!
If the boat did not arrive within a quarter-hour and exceeded the agreed time, they would have to withdraw immediately and find another way across the river.
Bai Zhi was also somewhat hesitant.
She had worked with Wang Hao for many years. How could she possibly fail to notice the change in his emotions?
Mo Li remained somewhat silent, while the ominous feeling surging within her heart grew increasingly intense.
Her intuition told her that the Blood-Weeping River ahead was extremely dangerous. It would be best not to continue forward, or she would face mortal danger!
“How about we retreat now and find another way across the river?” Mo Li proposed.
On her cultivation path, she had relied on this intuition to successfully avoid several life-and-death crises, so she did not dare show the slightest carelessness.
“Didn’t I already say it? We’ll only wait a quarter-hour!” Wang Hao interrupted Mo Li and insisted.
“Splash!”
The next instant, a Spirit Boat broke through the blood mist and suddenly appeared.
Wang Hao and Bai Zhi immediately relaxed.
As the rising sun ascended, golden light intertwined with the blood mist. The Spirit Boat slowly sailed against the light, gradually revealing several figures aboard.
Gazing at the figure she had yearned to see day and night, Mo Li’s heart abruptly contracted, her mind went completely blank, and her entire world seemed to freeze.
‘Immortal… Immortal Master?’
Mo Li’s vision instantly blurred, as though she were in a dream.