Time flies when you have fun. Or maybe when you're so focused on your work that you never notice the time.
Either way, years flew by in the Upper Realm as Pef cooked more and more Divine Meals, and shared them with the Legion. Their ranks grew stronger, aided by cultivating in the rich qi envirnoment of the Higher Heavens.
Meanwhile, the Elf Steelsmith crafted more and more Bronze Suits, while the Formation Master laid over various protective arrays meant to resist time distortions and other potential Jade House tricks.
The Alchemist Rejin received millions of Bronze Pills and their recipe as well, and eventually managed to craft one by himself, obtaining a rare distiction even in the Upper Realm. A simple bronze pin to his robe, but worth immense respect.
Then as the first Iron Suits received their Tribulation blessing from the Heavens, the Jade Eminence felt the threat had become palpable. Timelines became tangled or closed, as if his life was coming to an end soon.
Nobody wants to die, if they can help it. Eventually, the Jade Eminence met with the Elder Phoenix and they deduced their enemy was the Eternium Knight, the same person who stole the Phoenix Heart from the Phoenix House scion, and the prized Heart Mirror at the same time.
"They can't be sane, if they plan to attack my House! My army has 10 times their puny Legion numbers, not to mention our Elders and out temporal magic. Their troops will be frozen and killed at our pleasure!" the Jade Eminence growled in anger.
"And yet, this is what they are preparing. Perhaps they have a way to block time dilation. And probably a method to deal with yourself too." the Elder Phoenix spoke as blazing flames roared around him.
"...A new Sword Soul, perhaps? A sword intent of that magnitude will cut even my time strings." The Jade Eminence mused in a wary voice.
"Most likely that. And you still haven't asked the real question." the Elder Phoenix added in cold tone.
"Why don't they fear the Celestial Dean? The Dean should not tolerate another war which could devastate the Realms again. He could stop all this with a single word. Kill them all too, just as easily" The Jade Eminence mused in a thoughtful voice.
"Exactly. That Divine Cook who killed your House Scion is his student. Some say the Dean found him wandering alone in the Sword River, so he brought him to the Academy. Where he became the top student and won the Trial easily." The Phoenix concluded with a heavy sigh.
"If I would gift you a time crystal, will you be willing to aid me in the war? Only if things go poorly though." The Jade Eminence proposed with gritted teeth. Time crystals were far more valuable than people realized, and even more rare. An extra life, even return from death was a valuable gift, even for a Steel Eminence
"Hmmm. You still have another one, don't you? But time crystals are not that valuable to me, since I have my Nirvana Skill. Perhaps for one of the young kids in my house...and the Jade Mountains near my border. Some rare herbs only grow in that place, after all." the Elder Phoenix demanded with a sneaky voice.
"The Jade Mountains are a third of my House's lands! And quite valuable, since the pure jade energy there...no. I won't give them away." The Jade Eminence answered with a growl.
The Elder Phoenix smiled, and threw him a Phoenix feather. "Burn this if you change your mind, Jade Eminence. If I'm not busy, I will accept the deal I just proposed, at a later date. So long!" With a flash of energy, the Elder Phoenix opened his wings and flew away, faster than any cultivator at the same level.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
'I don't need your expensive aid, stupid bird.' the Jade Eminence muttered inward, almost throwing the feather away. Then he sighed and stored it into his inner world. His life was more valuable than some mountains.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The glove had a thousand plans to win the Jade War and a million contingencies for unforseen events.
But until the suits and their protective arrays were proven in combat, most plans were still only theoretical.
A million Legion Soldiers lead by two Legion Captains and escorted by Master Jin and his sword fanatics entered the assault portals laid by the Formation Master and swiftly took over the major commercial hub at Jade Junction.
A major trade hub like this had immense value, due to its artisans, auction houses, alchemists and all the merchants and treasures available here.
As large as the Jade House lands were, losing the Jade Junction would impact their economy by a few percents, which meant a response was guaranteed.
The City Governor and his Civic Guard stood no chance against a real army, but then a proper Elder and 15 million cultivators descended at speed from various transport birds, likely the elite Response Division of the Jade House.
The Legion Captains died in the first encounter, despite their new Bronze Realms and their Bronze power suits, without causing any injury to the Elder.
'Noted. The Jade Elders are quite strong. Deploy the Tao Sealer next.' she answered the hurried calls for support.
Meanwhile, the glove noted the advantage the suit gave in less-disatvantaged fights, allowing even Tier 8s to match and sometimes defeat Jade fighters at Tier 9 and rarely at Tier 10. So the suits were good enough.
The users sucked. But then such was the case with most humans.
'Go and misbehave a little, Taotie. Leave the Elder fight for our sealer.' she asked the Taotie, while pushing the monster with his new combat suit towards the front.
Truthfully, the suit mostly hindered the beast, as using a power suit less resilient than his own skin was a bother, but the Taotie needed to be hidden until the right time.
As Lia engaged the Jade Elder next, her first twenty passes ended in her gruesome death, but the Tao Seal restored her to pristine condition anyways, and a bit more experienced. The last pass ended differently, as the Tao Seal engulfed the Elder and drained his mind, leaving a living body without any higher function. The Taotie grabbed the non-sentient Elder's body and Devoured it under his dragon-shaped helmet, then growled in joy as he gained his 2nd Star in Tier 11 just like that.
Master Jin and his men sought the sword users to test their own Dao in combat, while Lia took over as a Legion Captain and began coordinating the regiment into a proper batleline.
An hour later, the last remaining troops of the elite Jade Division died, and the first battle of the Jade War ended.
The glove totaled the loses, finding only 9% had died for the Legion, and most of those in Tier 7 and 8. 'We need our Captains at Tier 11 as soon as possible.' she commented with a said voice.
Otherwise, the Jade War went rather well, and was expected to end in total victory in a year or less. The suits decreased expected loses by 300%, so they were quite good.
'Do you need me to join the battle too?' Pef asked in her mind.
'Not yet, silly. You cook more stuff, and grow our Legion stronger. And finish the damn Dozen Element method, I gave you all the data you might need.' the glove answered in a fake growl.
'Bring me the dead birds too. Especially that Jade Eagle.' Pef demanded from his Blue Realm beach, where 3000 Avatars were hard at work, cooking non-stop.
The glove blurred and grabbed the dead eagle before the Taotie could Devour it as well. 'There are plenty of human corpses here. Leave the beasts for cooking.' she admonished the Taotie as she collected the other dead mounts, and sent them to Pef via a Blue Portal.
'I'm not a garbage disposal!' The Taotie growled back, although he went on to Devour the 15 million corpses left behind by the Jade Division.
The glove goddess grinned under her helmet, then vanished. Soon, the Beasthunter will be ready for his 5th Star. She just needed to arrange him to fight a Steel Stingray, and lose. Actually, there was no chance he could even win.
Hmmm. Maybe reach out to the Life Goddess to save the Sergeant at the right time?
Nope. The woman was too devious. Arrange for the Formation Master to rescue him, and send him dying next to the Life Goddess. Much better.
The glove nodded to herself for a well-laid plan. Humans were still easy to manipulate.