While Wu Guang and the rest of his team were busying themselves with what could be considered miscellaneous tasks, the war had officially begun.
Lang Zheng had said that he would keep Wu Guang informed, but that would be only if he did obtain any information himself. With regretfully he had not.
Oh no, enough glyphs were flying between the Sect and the Wildlands allied 'army', comprised by the forces of four major clans and a ragtag bunch of guards from the cities. Still, the Sect had practically no update on the situation concerning the Qiu family lands, and after losing contact with a few people they tried to send before, they were now avoiding sending scouts.
In any case, no enemy forces, or even lone soldiers had been seen in what would be considered the buffer zone between the Sect and the Qiu's. Namely, the Western Trade tract on one side, and the 'Leaf Shadows Sect' on the other one.
This was very strange, as considering the speed that a decently trained Spirit realm cultivator would have, they would only require about seven or eight hours at full speed to run all the way since the southern coast and up to the Boundary hills. And so, why had not the enemy general sent at least some scouts?
This and other similar questions were constantly circulating in Lang Zheng's head, and from the discussion between the Clan Heads, the latter heads as well.
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If one would peek at the thoughts of the men present in the hidden council room of the 'Three Hills Sect', they would see the same thought. Why was the Eagle Kingdom general not making any movements?
"We have to assume that the Qiu's have fallen already" Wisdom Palace Master Chen surmised the contents of the last hour's discussion.
"Yes, if they were still resisting, at least one of the elders of the family, no matter what side of the internal war they stood, would have sent some kind of notice" Elder Mo agreed gravely.
"But how? Judging from what we know, the Eagle Kingdom army would have needed at least a few days to break through the walls and finish subjugating any inner-city resistance. That assumes that they even made landfall successfully without stopping or losing anyone!" Martial Palace Master Zhen interjected.
"I don't have any information but I would say that if they did, they most probably were helped by someone from inside. And as far as the landfall is related, I am afraid that they could have simply circled around and slowly unloaded their troops on one of the small beaches or cliffs" Discipline Palace Master Sikou shared his own view.
"Hmm, but that would require an enormous amount of time. I don't doubt that their army is well organized, as I have met several of their soldiers, but... there is simply no place in the entire southern shore that allows anything more than a single, small ship approach the coast" Zhen Gan countered.
"...But what if we assume that they actually divided their fleet into practically single ships? That would allow them to use all of the available space, and unload in less than a day" Master Chen suddenly said.
"It would be crazy but... doable. At least if the Qiu family was dumb enough to close their gates and remain behind walls" Zhen Gan was forced to admit. Indeed, dividing the fleet, and the army, into hundreds of small units, would appear crazy, as it would allow the enemy to destroy at least part of the forces before they converge. Still, if the Qiu family did not even bother to send a few lookouts, which was possible considering they had remained in full isolation for over a month... Then it was not far from being real.
"Ahem, I appreciate everyone's ideas, but we will not get anything from guessing" The Headmaster cleared his throat and said.
"Indeed, but what can we do? We sent seven Soul realm elders to monitor the moment of the army's arrival, and no one of them returned or even sent a glyph" Elder Di's voice was filled with grief, as he had chosen and sent them, and now he could only hope they were not captured.
"I know, and that's why I have decided to send... Tao Qiu"
"Him?!" Practically everyone in the room shouted in surprise.
Tao Qiu was a core disciple, one of the many that had been rescued from the Pocket Realm by Wu Guang. But the surprise came from another fact, which was that Tao Qiu was the first disciple in the sect, ever, to have reached the Sage realm before officially graduating! Even more, he was already being considered, at least by the Headmaster's words, as a candidate for succession.
"I know you may find this strange, but I am sure that he will manage. There is also the fact that no matter how many Sage realm cultivators the Eagle Kingdom has landed, they would be not sent to patrol the roads... Which assures me that Tao Qiu will be successful" The Headmaster explained.
"I, no, we understand that, but..." The Hallmaster said.
"No buts Hallmaster. It's either him or me, and I can not leave the Sect lands, either the formation will have no one to activate it. And before you start speaking about the protector, she will refuse. Plus, Tao Qiu needs to get some experience, and I see this as an opportunity for him" The Headmaster closed the discussion and briskly moved to another theme.
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Tao Qiu was 24 years old, and he had broken into the Sage realm almost three months ago. Which made him the most powerful disciple in the Sect as he considered himself slightly stronger than the recently ascended Lu Zhong. It also allowed him a place almost equal to the strongest men on the entire Island. And even though he was going into the Qiu lands, most probably occupied and swarming with thousands of hostile cultivators, he was sure that he would do well.
In fact, he was so sure that he was the one who actually had asked his master, who also happened to be the Headmaster of the Sect, to allow him. After all, not only it would serve the sect, but it would also directly improve his chances of becoming the official successor. Well, if there was anything to inherit after the war.
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"Headmaster!! Headmaster!!" On the next day, the fourth day since the Eagle Kingdom army supposedly landed on Half-Island, an inner circle elder crazily ran into the Main Palace while calling out for the headmaster.
Attracted by the ruckus, at least a dozen of Elders turned towards the running and shouting elder. Amongst them was Zhen Mang, who had just left the headmaster's office.
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"What happened?" Deciding to avoid making a scene, which he would do later because such conduct was simply unbecoming, he grabbed the elder's robe and asked him sternly.
"Hu... Hu... At least three dozens flying beasts are about to reach the Sect's wall!!"
"What?! Why hasn't the alarm been sounded? And why are you running in place of sending an emergency glyph?!"
"Not a single alarm rune-set is working, and neither the glyphs took flight after infusing them with qi!"
Hearing this Zhen Mang could not help but stare at the elder. Still, he was experienced enough as to sense that the latter did not seem to lie, and so recovered almost instantly before barking at the nearest elders
"You all, Try to activate any rune-set, test your holding pouches, try to send a glyph, quickly!"
Zhen Mang saw how the elders' faces paled as they followed the orders... and failed to activate even the most basic, door-locking rune set. But most importantly, the holding pouches did not work, either! Which meant that all of the sect forces were deprived of their weapons, armors, treasures, etc. At least of the part of them that they did not carry on their bodies.
He would have liked to panic as well, but he simply had no time now, neither he was in a position to show any.
"Understood. Try to find some and then use signal flares to gather everyone. I will go get the headmaster" Zhen Mang's confident tone and the sharp manner in which he assumed command at least somewhat calmed the present elders. And so when he commanded
"Divide amongst yourselves and move out. I want at least the Palace Masters and all High Elders informed of the situation. Whoever finds Head Elder Di, who should be around the Martial Library right now, ask him to start a full sweep of rune-locked places. The rest, move out towards the gate area" Everyone in reach moved out.
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The Headmaster, Teng De, was in deep meditation when he was rudely awakened by Zhen Mang. He knew that the latter would not allow himself to do so without a reason, and so simply motioned him to speak.
"What?!" Even with all his confidence in himself and the forces he commanded, Teng De could not react in another way than exclaim in shock. And no one could blame him for that, after all, runes were meant to work until they were physically destroyed... and there was no known, at least to him, ways to block them.
He did recover quickly, as not only he was one of the oldest members of the sect, but also its strongest one.
"I agree with the commands you already issued. I will take over now. Gather your enforcers, and man the gate"
"Understood, do we shoot as soon they approach?"
"No, if my guess is right, then the flying beasts are 'Jade Eagles', the mounts used by the Eagle Kindom elites. In that case, I doubt they are here to attack. Do not start anything yourself, but if they do, respond"
Zhen Mang acknowledged the order with a sharp nod and rushed out of the room. Activating his movement technique inside the palace would be an actual offense, but who would care in such a situation?
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Time passed quickly, and while the Headmaster reunited with most of the elders and activated the plans that thankfully they had already drawn, Zhen Mang had gathered a hundred enforcers and relieved everyone from the gate.
As the elder had said, there were indeed a few dozens of flying beasts high in the sky, but they had been gliding around the now visible wall, never coming closer than a mile to it, and never descending for more than two miles towards the ground. This made the task of identifying them almost impossible, but Zhen Mang had no doubt that the beasts were being ridden by someone.
"Head Enforcer" Zhen Mang turned around to face an inner elder that approached.
"Yes?"
"The Hallmaster has found out the cause of the rune's malfunctioning. He can not find out the source, but it's definitively something related to a special qi wave"
"Can something be done about it in the meantime?" Zhen Mang did not expect the runes around the sect to provide much help anyway, but... Most of the cultivators carried their weapons inside their holding pouches, and so, at least half of them would be unarmed. Which included his enforcers, and shamefully even himself.
"The Hallmaster is sure that he will find a way to counter it, but it will take some time"
"Understood"
***
"PROJECTILE!" Suddenly a shout from one of his deputies, Ding Kun, who was posted on one of the Wall's towers was heard. And before Zhen Mang even acknowledged the words, his aura blazed in full strength and projected to an entire mile around him.
*THUMP*
And so, even though he did not see, he sensed the fall of something big a few dozen feet outside the gate.
"The flying beasts are departing!" Another shout followed.
"Keep an eye on them, do you see what did they throw?"
"It's... It's..."
"What is it?!" Zhen Mang snarled
"A body! One dressed into our Sect's personal disciple uniform!" Ding Kun got himself under control and reported.
Zhen Mang felt cold sweat trickle along his back. The only person to have departed the sect lately... And the only one dressed in such a uniform...
"Open the gate!! Wu, Lei, Ling, follow me!" Zhen Mang barked orders and rushed first through the slightly opened gate.
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"ACCURSED EGG-BORN BASTARDS!!!" For the first time in more than thirty years that Teng De had been the Headmaster of the Sect, he allowed himself to curse, swear, and shout. In fact, he has been doing it since the Golden Wings, the beast taming cultivators from the Eagle Kingdom had dropped their... package and flew away.
Zhen Mang's fear was regretfully on point, as the body that was dropped down was no one else than Tao Qiu's. And what was worse, the Eagle Kingdom not only had killed him but also strapped a letter to his body.
A letter that was short, insulting, and consisted of only three phrases
"His Royal Majesty Ying, given the assaults, offenses, and massacres committed by the Half-Island powers against his royal subjects has been forced to declare war"
"The Qiu family has been dealt with"
"Surrender or follow their example"