Beastmaster of the Ages

The grand victory had caused the morale of the wargodeans to soar. They were the fourth-ranked first-rate sect, and thanks to Li Wushuang, they had managed to deal a heavy blow to the Empyrean Sword Sect, the fifth-ranked sect. It was a crushing victory that had allowed them to vent. If it weren't for Lan Sha's death, which had been a heavy blow, this would have called for a celebration.

Now that the Empyrean Sword Sect had retreated, Li Wushuang assigned new people to take over Aix Lake. The battlefield was still covered in corpses and blood, but the victors saw it as a beautiful and welcome sight, or at least Li Wushuang did. Standing atop a blood-drenched branch of the divine tree, she looked into the distance. Her helpful aides, Yun Tianque and the Tumulus Pill God, stood beside her.

"Lady Wushuang," the Tumulus Pill God said, seeing that she was in a good mood. However, he didn't feel like he could just say it outright.

"What is it?" she asked, smiling. Despite still being drenched in blood, there was an innocence to her smile, though that in turn chilled him.

"I was only going to say that there's no way the Empyrean Sword Sect will accept taking such a loss. Now that the Rain Swordlord is dead, the Northdipper Swordsage will definitely act. We have to make some preparations in advance."

"They're only going to send reinforcements. Can't your sects do the same? Needless to say, if they send more people here, I'll speak to the Warlord and Deluge Emperor about reinforcements myself. If the Northdipper Swordsage comes himself and wants to deal with me, we'll have the Warlord come. Isn't he your disciple?" she matter-of-factly said.

"Yes… this old man is just worried that they will launch a surprise attack on us. Given my understanding of the Northdipper Swordsage, he isn't the type to mount an attack personally, given how slimy he is. He's afraid of the Warlord."

"Then it won't even be a problem. Don't you understand? Nobody in this world dares to touch me. Fools like the Rain Swordlord don't understand that simple principle, though, and now she's dead." She'd even had the former Whitedragon Emperor killed by the sun emperor with a flimsy justification that he'd 'violated' her, and nobody had said a word about it. This was a world where might made right, and it just so happened that the celestial orderians and the sun emperor were the real mighty ones.

"I just worry that they won't attack us with conventional methods and resort to… less savory ones," the Tumulus Pill God reminded her. There were far many more ways than one to kill a person.

"I understand your point. With how ruthless my actions today were, some people will try to force my brother away to teach me a lesson. But if I already don't fear a frontal attack, why should I fear a surprise attack? My people are already here, and they're waiting for me back at the Supracloud Sanctuary."

"That's perfect!" he said. Li Wushuang would be fine, alright, since she had the best celestial orderian elites to protect her. He was 'happy' for her, but he felt rather bad about this. Li Wushuang hadn't called upon many average cultivators to come, so the fodder in future battles would still be from the wargodeans and Blueblood Starocean. In future conflicts, those two sects would be the ones suffering casualties, Lan Sha being a chief example of that. Yet Li Wushuang had gone past him to directly reach the Warlord and Deluge Emperor to get more protection for herself.

It went without saying that she would take all of the saplings too. As for how many divine herbs she would leave them, it completely depended on her mood. The main goal of the Blueblood Starocean and wargodeans had been to get some divine herbs to begin with, without suffering too many casualties in the process, but Li Wushuang had completely ruined those plans. Now the two sects were branded as full traitors, and they didn't even have much to show for it.

Even if a bigger conflict is sparked, she'll still be able to roam free while our two sects suffer. She can leave at any time, and nobody can touch her…. What a great plan on her part, the Tumulus Pill God lamented. The Warlord had put him under a lot of pressure to get Li Wushuang to tone down her actions, but he knew that there was no way he could just tell her to stop. He couldn't take it any more and made an attempt. "Lady Wushuang, the scale of the conflict is considerably rising. Shouldn't we consult the sun emperor about this matter just in case?"

He immediately regretted it the next moment. Li Wushuang's smile immediately vanished, replaced by an icy-cold glare.

"Shut up."

"Understood!" He hurriedly looked down without saying another word. Li Wushuang had a complicated relationship with the sun emperor; she was like a stubborn child that caused trouble because of her affluent family, yet she absolutely loathed snitches who told on her to her guardians. Then again, how could the sun emperor not be aware of all that? Perhaps he was closing one eye and pretending not to see it. If not even the sun emperor cared, there was nothing he could do but mourn the fallen, those who would never rise again, even as those that survived cheered and obliviously danced above the corpses of their comrades.

……

After the bloody battle, the entire continent was embroiled in a deathly storm that allowed grudges, rage, and hatred to fester like magma. The day the volcano blew would be the day the continent was swallowed in conflict. Would anyone be able to change the fate of the Azurecloud Divine Tree? One thing was for sure: Tianming and the rest couldn't show up in the open until the two warring factions left the battlefield.

"Li Wushuang and the rest still don't know about the Northdipper Swordsage's alliance, so they might underestimate the number of reinforcements they need. At the same time, she'll no doubt underestimate the desire of the swordsage to help his sect supersede the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect to become the leading faction of the Myriad Solar Sects. In the next battle, we need Li Wushuang and the rest to lose, and perhaps even retreat from the continent, so we have to side with the Empyrean Sword Sect."

That was the consensus between Tianming, Long Wanying, Yang Ce, and Gujian Qingshuang. Li Wushuang's victory today would no doubt make her feel good and let down her guard.

"Next, we'll rely on Tianming to massage in the finer details. Keep an eye on all of their troop movements and reinforcements," Long Wanying said. Information was their greatest advantage, and Long Wanying and Yang Ce were a huge help. They didn't want any saplings or divine herbs, just an opportunity to drive away the traitors and give the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect a chance. The biggest problem the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect had now was that three Dragon Imperials' lives were at risk of being taken by the Veildragon Palace.

Long Wanying knew that if they had a breakthrough victory on this front, she would be able to bring Tianming to the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect and fight the Veildragon Palace together. No doubt, they would also greatly benefit in that struggle with Tianming supporting them. Apart from them, Gujian Qingshuang was fighting for the Azuresoul Palace, while Yan Nuxia and the rest were helping out of friendship. They were the perfect match, and Tianming's ability was the core that bound them all together. He needed them just as much as they needed him, each in their own struggles against fate.