Wu Guang preferred to not explain or even speak until they reached some point, and thankfully everyone in his group accepted it without question.
And so, after entering the tunnels from the exit outside the city, they proceeded forward in silence. At least until they passed the enormous room, almost hall-like cave below the North Gate of the city. Wu Guang stopped for a moment to tell the ones that had not participated in the rescue of Duqi and the other clansmen about their location, and then quickly ushered them forward.
It was not until they walked a few hundred feet more, where he stopped. Their current location was near the room where Duqi, Lang Juan, and the others were held captive.
Here, Wu Guang signaled for everyone to stop, and then turned towards them, motioning them to wait while he took out a few lighting orbs, camping supplies, etc., and prepared something akin to a resting zone.
"Well, get comfy as you may. We will spend the rest of the night here"
"Here? Why?" Lang Juan immediately questioned.
"For starters, to allow me to explain what we will be doing"
"And?" Xiao Feng joined in.
"Well, if we do get out of the tunnels right now, we will be seen. You should know better than me when the last mortals departed the city, don't you?"
"Oh! But, why we would want to remain hidden? I understand that avoiding the guards who may spill out something, but the mortals? Plus, we will be noticed at the Clan's post at the end of the Boundary Hill Road anyway, don't we?" He continued.
"Who says we will be?"
"What?" The only one to voice the surprise was Xiao Feng, but the rest also looked at Wu Guang questioningly.
"Mmm, let me first explain everything to you. Afterward, we can go over the points" After seeing the approval in everyone's eyes, Wu Guang took a breath and began explaining. He could not say that he was here on a mission from the Black Empire War Minister, but before they were sent out they should have been told something.
Something like... An important mission from the Sect. Wu Guang could not be sure of it, but thankfully he may say whatever he wanted about it. Not only it would be impossible to confirm, and no one from this ten would try to anyway. And even if by some chance a confirmation would be sought, Wu Guang did not doubt that the Sect's Council would have some kind of backstory prepared.
And so, he explained the overall mission but changed the words of the Minister for ones from the Headmaster himself.
"...Let me stress it out again, the Eagle Kingdom aims to eliminate all, or at least most of, the people living on this Island. However mad it may sound, it seems logical from their side as they plan to move their people here. And as you all understand, people need both space and food. The Sect got wind of this, and so to avoid casualties began moving mortals, as well the weakest of the cultivators out of harm's way" Wu Guang repeated the main point of his initial explanation before checking that everyone was indeed aware of the point before suddenly asking
"So now tell me, if the Sect is a tough nut to crack and has the walls and a lot of trumps cards to defend against their army... Who would the eagles' target?"
"Mortals?" Duqi probed with a half questioning tone.
"Yes, you are right. Their initial plan was to target them anyway, but now that they are all in one place, then the sensible move would be to attack that place first before dealing with the opposition, would it not?"
"However mad it may sound to kill dozens if not hundreds of thousands of people, it is indeed logical" Lang Juan answered.
"And now suppose that your army is occupied with the Sect's forces, while the detachment that you can send is weaker than the joint forces manning a practically unassailable wall. A wall which is also the only way to get towards the mortals" Wu Guang could not disclose the fact about formations, even to his close friends, and so preferred to simply diminish the threat and defenses against it.
For some moments a silence ensued as everyone began to think of what could be done in such a situation.
"Then... I would make the mortals either come out or use other means to kill them" Xiao Feng shared his thoughts.
"That's right, and what would be the easiest way?"
Another silence followed Wu Guang's question until Wei spoke up for the first time
"Revolt or any incident that makes them distrust their defenders. Either that or supplies destruction or poisoning"
"Right on point. And as most of the defenders are made up from the Clans that joined the Sect's defensive alliance..."
"The refugees from the cities will distrust our men to some degree anyway" Lang Juan concluded.
"Yes, and so, the mission I was entrusted to is to make sure that any incident is quashed in time. Because I alone could not cover all the ground, I requested a few people and there you go... You lot are my team now" Wu Guang grinned as he finished the hardest, in his opinion, part of the explanation. He had deceived them slightly, as his own mission was to find out if there were people connected to the Eagle Kingdom around the Demonic Plateau, but what he told them was indeed what he expected from them.
"I, no... We understand" Xiao Feng said after glancing at the others before proceeding
"But how do we do it?"
"Oh, I have already discussed this with several elders already and there is a more-or-less feasible plan drafted" Truthfully the plan was Wu Guang's brainchild, still, he could not tell them that he could ignore the Sect's orders now or plan a mission by himself, could he?
"Ones like that mysterious high elder that brought us here? I mean, I thought I did not know some, but that one... Not only the concealment was perfect, to the point I can not even say if it was a man or a woman, but also I could not even attempt to guess her cultivation" The until now silent Ren Ah spoke up.
"You mean Lady Xian? It is unsurprising for you, or other elites to not know of her"
"Lady Xian? But why would we not know her?" Liang Chin Immediately asked.
"She is the Sect's protector, and her cultivation is even higher than our esteemed Headmaster"
"What?!" Practically everyone except Lan Yanzhi and Yuan Taotu exclaimed.
"Her existence is a secret... A secret that will be a very unpleasant surprise to whoever attacks the Sect's grounds" Wu Guang did not reveal the truth behind her identity or real cultivation, but what had he said was enough for them. Before allowing them to start barraging him with other questions, Wu Guang waved his hand and said
"Now, before we continue, let me share the plan with you all"
________________________________________________________________________
Wu Guang had actually just formulated the plan, as he before did not know who would be assigned to him. And so while taking a deep breath as if preparing to convey the elders' wisdom, he quickly checked on everyone present and their cultivations.
From the people he had requested, Yuan Taotu and Wei had again advanced, reaching the 7th level of the Spirit realm.
By a stroke of luck, extreme talent, or simply because she was allocated enough resources, Lang Juan also reached the same level already, making three breakthroughs since their last meeting.
Kuang Jing and Duqi both managed to break through as well, with the latter going over two levels and so now were on the 5th level of the Spirit realm.
With the resources he had left her as well her innate talent, Lan Yanzhi had also improved tremendously. She was now a peak Spirit level cultivator, only a slight push away from entering the Soul realm.
The other four were also familiar faces, albeit he only had seen one of them once. Still, it was a reassuring group.
By a stroke of luck or just because he was around, Xiao Feng had been included in the group. His cultivation had only increased to the 8th level of the Spirit realm, but the training of the Martial Palace could be sensed in the manner he held himself. And Wu Guang was sure that he had gotten far stronger than before.
He did not truly expect elites, but somehow Ren Ah and Liang Chin were again with him. Both of them had managed to break through and so were 2nd level of the Soul realm cultivators. Adding their combination skill should give them an advantage even against someone slightly stronger.
As for the last member of their team, she had never worked or fought with or against Wu Guang even so, he was sure of her competence. After all, she was none other than the star of the higher Inner Circle of the Sect and Kuang Jing's sister, Kuang Xiaolan. They had never interacted in person before, and she had been silent all along. Still, Wu Guang remembered her face, as she was one of the pair of higher Inner Disciples that had observed him during the tournament during which he met, and beat out her brother and Wei. She never joined any palace, at least openly, but her cultivation was already on the 9th level of the Spirit realm. She was not yet on the peak of the minor realm, but she was close enough. And the air around her also allowed determining that she was strong, far stronger than a common disciple.
The plan he formulated wasn't grand, but it was simple and well-thought. Maybe Wu Guang would have acted differently if he had ten Soul realm cultivators at his disposal, but he did not, and so he had to minimize the risks of his Spirit realm companions meeting any real Eagle Kingdom opponents. As for the small fry that would be used for sabotage, he wasn't worried at all. After all, no one above the 3rd level of the Spirit realm was permitted to join the refugees and would have to join the joint garrison or even the Sect's forces. So, if the Eagle Kingdom planned to organize anything among the refugees, they would most probably use the remains of the Underhill grunts or a few dropouts of their military.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"Lang Juan and Duqi will openly enter the Wildlands, under the pretense of visiting their clans. I doubt there will be any issues, but Lang Zheng is the one in charge of the pass forces, so even if there are, it will be easy to solve out. The two biggest camps used to house the refugees from the three cities are near your two clans, and so you will be tasked with keeping an eye on them. As well as resolving the incidents that occur"
Wu Guang did not allow anyone to interject before continuing
"Kuang Jing and Kuang Xiaolan, I trust that you two can take the Assembly camp, as well monitor what happens in there. I will provide you with the needed treasures to conceal your cultivation, and so you will be considered weak, rogue cultivators. I know it may be hard for someone with no connections, but I trust that with your looks at least making a few friends will be possible. I will also pass you some information on who I remember from there, maybe it will serve for something. Is that okay?"
This time Wu Guang waited for the brother and sister to nod before continuing
"Xiao Feng, I know you hate administrative work, but you will have to do it. You will be taking a place behind the desks in the warehouses. Albeit all cities and towns moved whatever they could, and the Sect also send some, it was decided that food will be issued daily on a more-or-less equal share. That is one of the best places to stage anything, and so it will be your task to monitor it. Wei will go along with you, taking place as a porter or business"
Then he continued after turning towards Wei
"Your main task will be to keep an eye on the shady bussiness around there. I know you are not a bandit anymore, but you should be able to determine if anyone tries to do something below the bottom line of acceptable. Both of you will be given outer circle badges and uniforms, and I will make sure to see that you get assigned there" Wu Guang had not discussed this part of the plan with anyone but he was sure that it would be not so hard. As for the uniforms and badges, he had a few of them thanks to the Eagle scout group he eliminated.
"Next, we have Yuan Taotu. You will move towards the west coast, I will later show you a place where ships can moor and disembark passengers. It's a small beach, and so you alone should be enough to cover it. There should be no need to fight, simply notify me if any ship appears. You have a better understanding of ships than anyone around anyway. Also, there may be a few ships from the 'Floating Nation' arriving. They may be coming with good intentions, or they could be not. I hope that you can find it out before we actually meet them" Wu Guang knew that some of the 'Floating Nation' ships had been contracted by the Black Empire to wreak havoc and distract the Eagle Kingdom patrols, but who knew? There was always someone willing to fish in muddled waters.
After Yuan Taotu nodded, Wu Guang turned towards the Discipline Palace Elites
"You two will hiddenly enter the Wildlands with me, but then settle down somewhere hidden. If we can get Lang Zheng to provide a place, that's better, if not, we will settle for introducing you to one of the smaller camps. I got a few badges from the Coastal Hill City Martial School, so we will choose one without people from the City and let you hide in plain view. Obviously, you will be tasked to monitor it, but your main task will be as reserves"
"Understood" Ren Ah and Liang Chin said in unison.
"Good, as for me and Lan Yanzhi... We will be scouting the surroundings of the Demonic Plateau. I doubt anyone of you knows it, but there were a few sightings of Eagle Kingdom cultivators around there before. I doubt they still are there, but we have to check it out"
________________________________________________________________________
With everyone's assignments given out, Wu Guang passed badges, uniforms, and even common island clothes to everyone who would need them. He had initially not planned for this and did not have any, but seemingly the heavens decided to help him, giving him an enormous amount of them as spoils.
As for the treasures he mentioned, they were indeed meant to conceal their cultivations. A thing he did not say though, was that all of them were made by him the day before. And that they were far better than even the rune-cloak, as they simply required a small amount of qi once a day to only allow the level you wanted to show be seen by anyone below the peak Sage realm.
"Now, the ones entering covertly do remember your new identities. The badges were... given to me, and so you should simply learn the name on them and have a small, normal backstory. Something along the lines..."
With the last instructions given out, Wu Guang passed each of them a tracking message glyph. It was the same as a common silver glyph, except that it would locate and fly directly to Wu Guang while he was less than 200 miles away from them.
________________________________________________________________________
A few minutes later, they all began to hound Lang Juan and Duqi about what they should know Wildlands-wise. Most of them did want to catch up with Wu Guang, but the latter said something about securing the other exits and disappeared from the spot. Even before anyone could offer him to go along.
His speed and the ease he disappeared without leaving any trace was surprising, as even the Elites could not sense anything.
This was a theme that was them heavily discussed by Kuang Jing, Lang Juan, Xiao Feng, and the Elites. The rest listened attentively, even though they did not join the conversation itself.
Wu Guang had not lied, he had indeed gone to check all the 5 exits or entrances. Few people knew of the tunnels, and even fewer ones alive, but that did not change that the Black Eagles commander knew. Even though the only two entrances the Eagles could access, which were the Sect's one and the South wall one were sealed now, Wu Guang decided to be cautious and check the two that were supposedly inaccessible.
They indeed ended in caved caves, but after taking a look around, Wu Guang found out that if enough manpower was applied, it was viable to clear them out.
And so he spent a few minutes trapping all of them with enough spell traps that only a squad of peak Sage Realm experts could get through. He neither did forget to add some alarm spells. Granted, he would be far away, but at least knowing that someone was intending to use the tunnels was enough.
Afterward, he stealthily avoided the group and moved towards the two northern entrances. The one in the mine was the one they would use in the morning, one that he would trap afterward. As for the other, it should unreachable without the Eagles breaking through the wall, but to avoid taking chances, he added a few traps as well.
When he returned, he was instantly met with a question from Lang Juan.
"Wu Guang, tell us, what is your current cultivation? Neither of us could even manage to guess it" Albeit she was the one asking, everyone, including Lan Yanzhi's eyes were on him, waiting for an answer.
"My cultivation? Well..." Wu Guang expanded his aura, weakening it to go along with his current level, and allowing everyone to sense it.
"The heavens! 3rd level of the Soul realm?!"
"What the hell do you even need us!"
"What a well-concealed bastard"
"Oi, Brother Wu, share some of that resources with me... Pretty please?"
Hearing the random barrage of exclamations, Wu Guang only smiled. He knew that neither of them was resenting him for his quick advancement, and in truth, they were genuinely glad for his enormous progress.
"Anyway, with that out of the way... Let's wait for a few minutes, and then rest"
"Why wait? You have something else to add?" Ren Ah asked.
"Oh no, it simply that there will be a bit of a... disturbance shortly"
Before anyone could actually ask what did he mean...
*BOOM* ¨BOOM* *BOOM* *CRASH* *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*
A series of explosions were heard in the distance before the tunnels themselves began to tremble.
Seeing that Wu Guang maintained his calm, no one of them began to panic, but they did ask for explanations right as everything calmed down.
"Oh, don't worry. I knew that around midnight the explosives and some destruction runes will activate near the North Wall. That was the main reason why I did not make us stop in the spacious cavern and moved until here"
"Explosives?"
"North Wall?"
"The Eagles?!"
"Oh no, no eagles. It was provoked by the Sect. In fact, by Lady Xian" Wu Guang calmly explained.
"But why?"
"Well, as you know, the defensive line will be the North Wall, not the south wall, right?" When everyone nodded, Wu Guang simply said
"So, why would we leave them the stairways and ladders to climb the wall? So all of them were eliminated. Some temporal ladders will be set on the opposite side later, but for now, the Wall is really an unpassable one"
"You mean?"
"Yes, the gate will be also heavily blockaded about... now" As if confirming his words, a series of loud thumps were heard. If the sound was reaching the tunnels, how heavy were the obstacles? They could only guess.
"And the guards?"
"You mean the city ones posted in the south? The side gate remains unlocked, it will allow their passage as soon as the enemies arrive. Then it will be also blown up and blockaded"
Truth to be said, all of these loud explosions and else were just an act. Oh no, they had indeed destroyed all possible accesses unto the wall, but the real protection would come from a formation that Lady Xian had set up using the orbs that Wu Guang had given her in the sect. It was simply that no one, even the clansmen would know of it until it was time for it to activate. And it would do so automatically as soon as the side-gate was blown up as well...